Yale Uiilversltv Library

39002002221100

tt^ • -w ^u

, - f

^^

YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

ME^IOIES

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER.

MEMOIES

MARYLAND VOLDiNTEER.

WAE WITH MEXICO,

I]Sr THK YE^RS 1846-T-8.

BT
JOHK E. KEKLY.

PHILADELPHIA:
J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO.
18 t 3.

y

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1372, by
.TOHN R. IvENLY, of Baltimore, Md.,
Tn the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.
[Ric/ht of Translation reserved.]

C^7^ i4o

LiPPiNCOTTs Press,
PHrL.\l)ELPHIA.

Vr>l-C

TO TIIE MEMORY
OF
MAJOR-GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR,
WHO, WHILE LIVING, WAS A TKUE TYPE OP THE .IMEKIC.VN
SOLDIER,
THIS "W O la IC
IS AFFECTIOXATELY DEDICATED,

( vii )

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.
Preliminary . . j^g

CHAPTER II.
Arrival at the Brazos Santiago CHAPTER III.
The Rio Grande .

PAGE

3(!

59

CHAPTER IV
Camargo 72
CHAPTER V.
Campaign of the Rio Grande . . t^Q
CHAPTER VI.
Monterey . . loi
CHAPTER VII.
Storming of Monterey .... 105
CHAPTER VIII.
Third Day of the Battle ... .123
CHAPTER IX.
Capitulation of Monterey ... . . . 132
CHAPTER X.
Capitulation of Monterey .... . 142
CHAPTER XI.
In Camp at Walnut Springs . . .15
(ix)

X CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XII. PAGE
Sight-seeing in Monterey . .... 1-56
CHAPTER XIII.
Death of Captain Ridgely . . 160
CHAPTER XIV.
End of the Armistice: General Santa Anna for War 164
CHAPTER XV.
Appointment of Major R. C. Buchanan, U. S. Army, to the Com
mand of the Baltimore Battalion . . 169
CHAPTER XVI.
Jlarch to Victoria ... 174
CHAPTER XVII,
Victoria . . . 191
CHAPTER XVIII.
The Army of Occupation at Victoria, and the Arrival of General
Taylor ... . 195
CHAPTER XIX.
General Scott placed in Command — His Arrival in the Country . 199
CHAPTER XX.
Departure from Victoria, and March to Tampico . . 210
CHAPTER XXI.
Tampico — General Scott marshaling his Forces for the Capture of
Vera Cruz . . . . 229
CHAPTER XXII.
Tampico . . .241
CHAPTER XXIII.
Tampico — Visit to Vera Cruz . . 265

CONTENTS. xi
CHAPTER XXIV.

Tampico — Discharged from the Service, etc.
CHAPTER XXV.
The Distriot of Columbia and Maryland Regiment; it.- Organization,
Departure for the Seat of War, and Arrival at Vera Cruz

PAGE

27

CHAPTER XXVI.
March into the Interior ... . 29:^
CHAPTER XXVII.
Capture and Occupation of the Xational Bridge . 300
CHAPTER XXVIII,
Guerilleros . . ... 308
CHAPTER XXIX.
Views of our Government as to the Conduct of the War :il3
CHAPTER XXX.
Operations at and about the National Bridge . . 318
CHAPTER XXXI.
Negotiations with El Padre Jarauta . . 328
CHAPTER XXXII.
Negotiations for Peace . . . 333
CHAPTER XXXIII.
Scott's Advance on the City of Mexico . . 344
CHAPTER XXXIV.
Conquering a Peace . . . • 3,56
CHAPTER XXXV.
March from the National Bridge . . 362
CHAPTER XXXVI.
The City of Jalapa . 367

xii CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XXXVII. PAGK
In Garrison  372
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
General Santa Anna, and his Reception, by the District of Columbia
and Maryland Regiment, at Jalapa .... 389
CHAPTER XXXIX.
Visit to the City of Mexico . . . . 899
CHAPTER XL.
The City of Mexico  . 406
CHAPTER XLI.
The Court of Inquiry. ... . .431
CHAPTER XLII.
Negotiations for Peace ..... 459
CHAPTER XLIII.
End of the War — We leave Mexico .... . 468
CHAPTER XLIV.
Conclusion .... ....... 474
Appendix .... . 479

MEMOIRS OF
A MARYLAND VOLUNTEER.

CHAPTER I.

PRELIMINARY.

The recognition of the independence of Texas, and
its subsequent annexation, may have been the proxi
mate cause of the war with Mexico ; but for years
there had been smouldering embers, which the evolu
tion of time alone would have fanned into active war
fare against the Mexican people. It was not alone
because the sympathies of the Americans were with
the Texans in their brave and heroic struggle for
liberty from Me.xican military domination, that the
military chieftains of the pseudo-republic were so
bitter in their hostility to the United States ; and it
was not alone because the early settlers of Texas were
our own race and blood that we felt so keenly their
massacre at Mier, and their triumph at San Jacinto.
No ! there were deep-seated causes of hostility between
the two peoples. The one, an antagonism of race
upon the borders of the two countries, which was in
stinctive and involuntary, as much so as between the
Red Man and the Western Pioneer ; another, a long
2 (13)

14 MEMOIRS OF A
continuance of outrages upon the persons and property
of American citizens by Mexican officials, and redress
either positively refused or vexatiously and willfully
po.stponed ; another, the watchful jealousy with which
the officials of Mexico had been regarding the expan
sive growth of the United States, — a jealousy from
which sprang at first distrust, then hatred. These
were continuously exhibited.
General Jackson, the then President of the United
States, in a Message to Congress on the Sth of Febru
ary, 18.37, said, "The wanton character of some of
the outrages upon the persons and property of our
citizens, upon the officers and flag of the United
States, independent of recent insults to this Govern
ment by the late Extraordinary Mexican minister,
would justify, in the eyes of all nations, immediate
war." Still no war.
I was cognizant of some of these outrages. Mr.
Edward Hoffman, a merchant of Baltimore, after
having paid duties on his merchandise at Santa Fe,
to the custom-house officers there stationed, and ob
tained regular permits for the importation of his
goods into Mexico, was deliberately robbed of the
same permits by the custom-house officials at Chihua
hua, deprived of his goods, and imprisoned in a loath
some dungeon, until he bought himself out of their
hands by money obtained from his friends.'''
The simple narration of the outrages done to other
Americans by Mexican officials, which he witnessed.

* His claim for losses was allowed after the war, by the Com-
missioa provided for bythe Treaty of Peace.

MAR rL AND VOLUNTEER. Ifj
filled one with indignation; and well-authenticated
accounts of the continuous wrongs done our citizens
were published throughout the country.
Notwithstanding the independence of Texas had
been recognized by most of the European powers, and
the utter inability of Mexico to re-establish her au
thority over it,* yet the Mexican Government and
people, including Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, in
sisted upon their right of sovereignty over Texas,
and declared that no quarter would be given to any
foreigner taken fighting against the troops of Mexico.
This was from 1841 to 1844.
On the od of March, 1845, the joint resolution for
the admission of Texas into the American Union
passed both Houses of Congress, and, being signed by
the President on the same dffy, became a law. This,
however, did not consummate the measure ; the con-
.sent of the people of Texas was required, and it was
supposed by some that the President of the Lone Star
State might listen to propositions from the represent
atives of England and France, who endeavored to
defeat the measure.
All these attempts signally failed. On the 23d of
June, 1845, the Government of Texas, by the unani
mous vote of both Houses, and the approval of the
Executive, gave its consent ; and the convention to
which the matter had been finally referred, by its
ordinance of July 4, 1845, assented to it, and annex
ation was consummated. From this time the senti-
* See a letter from Hon. Daniel Webster to Nicholas Biddle,
dated September 10, 1838, published in the Life of Webster, by
George Ticknor Curtis, 18T0, vol. i. p. 579.

16 MEMOIRS OF A
ment of the people of Mexico was nearly national,*
that the " Barbarians of the North" should be chastised
for their presumption ; and the movement of Tay
lor's troops to the west of the Nueces culminated in
the murder of Colonel Cross, the defeat of a party
under Lieutenant Porter, the capture of Captain
Thornton's squadron of dragoons by the Mexicans on
this side of the Rio Grande, and the Act of our Con
gress of the 13th of May, 1846, recognizing the exist
ence of a state of war.
In the President's Message to Congress, which pre
ceded by two days the passage of the above Act, he
told the people of the United States " that American
blood had been shed upon American soil, a,nd that, by
the acts of her generals, Mexico had proclaimed that
hostilities had commenced."
Was the country between the Nueces and the Rio
Grande American soil ? The whole casus belli turns
on this. I say it was : and this assertion is made
after much reading on the subject. If the province
of, or republic of, Texas ever owned to the left bank
of the Rio Grande, we were in, under the terms
of annexation ; and that she did so claim, after the
treaty with the Mexican generals in 1836, is not
* There were some exceptions. The President, Herrera, was
opposed to war; and I was told iu the city of Mexico in 1848,
by an eye-witness of the affair, that in January, 1846, on
the day that Herrera was compelled to resign by Paredes and
his adherents, when Herrera left the palace the people in the
plaza made way for him as he passed alone through the crowd,
and with tears in their eyes prayed God to protect and bless him,
so highly was he esteemed by all classes.

2IAIirLAND VOLUNTEER. yj
disputed. Besides this, I think the probabilities are
that as a province or state of the Mexican confedera
tion, the Rio Grande, or Bravo del Norte as they also
termed it, was its natural western boundary,* as no
other State of the Mexican republic was lying east of
this river but Texas.
After the victories of the Texans, they drove the
Mexicans across the Rio Grande, and on the banks of
this river the Texan leaders deliberated upon the
boundaries of their future republic. Many of thein
were well acquainted with the rich valley of the Rio
Grande west of that river, and urged that the moun
tains of the Sierra Madre, lying about a hundred
miles back, should be the western limits of their State.
This would have given to the Texans the Mexican
State of Tamiaulipas, rich in cotton- and sugar-lands,
and a natural boundary line much prefei^able to the
Rio Grande.
It is related as a factthatevery officer of the Texan
army present at this conference was in favor of this
boundary, with the single exception of their com-
* I admit there is Me.xican authority for the claim made by
some geographers that the Xueces was the eastern boundary of
the State of Coahuila; but General Almonte, high Mexican
authority, said that this was an error. France clairaed by the
discovery of the Mississippi all the country to the Rio Grande.
This is a natural geographical division. When we bought
Louisiana from Xapoleon in 1803, we claimed under its grant to
the Rio Grande. By our treaty with Spain in 1819 we aban
doned our claim to all the territory west of the Sabine River.
Texas now took up what our statesmen had abandoned, and the
victory of San Jacinto, with its sequences, removed all doubt as
to whom the territory belonged on the 4th day of April, 1846.

18 MEMOIRS OF A
manding officer, General Sam Houston. He over
ruled the decision of the officers, and insisted that the
Rio Grande River should be the line from its mouth
to the 39th parallel of north latitude,* and thus it was
established by Act of the Congress of the republic of
Texas in 1836; so that, when Texas came into the
Union, she brought with her the boundary on the west
gained by her people in their war of independence.
On the 4th of April, 1846, the Mexican General
Arista was ordered by his Government to cross the
Rio Grande, and attack and destroy the American
army by every means in his power; and he immedi
ately announced to General Taylor, on this side the
river, that he considered hostilities as having com
menced. On the 25th of April General Torrejon did
cross the river, and killed Lieutenant Mason, with a
large proportion of Thornton's squadron United States
Dragoons, and captured the balance.
The war had commenced ; Arista followed Torrejon,
and, on the left bank of the Rio Grande, in the State
of Texas, fought and was defeated by General Taylor
on the Sth and 9th days of May, 1846.
The news of the battles of the Sth and 9th of
May — Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma — caused
the liveliest rejoicing throughout the United States,
and the victories of our gallant little army of regulars
raised the military enthusiasm of the nation to the
highest pitch.
By the Act of May 13, 1846, the President was
authorized to call forth volunteers in any number not
* Doniphan's Campaign.

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. IQ
exceeding 50,000, to serve for the period of one year
or during the war. Prior to the passage of this Act,
a considerable number of volunteers from Louisiana
had been called for by Generals Gaines and Taylor for
three months' service, and had marched with alacrity
to the support of the army in the field.
Soon after the news of the battles on the Rio
Grande had been received in Baltimore, I went to the
city of Washington, provided with a letter of intro
duction to the President of the United States from
an influential citizen of Baltimore, — Mr. Francis
Gallagher, — and had an interview with Mr. Polk.
I solicited from him an appointment to the regular
army ; he told me that he purposed calling for volun
teers — would take some from Maryland, and that then
I would have an opportunity to respond to the call of
my country with higher rank than he could give me.
Continued my efforts to enter the regular army
until the 1st day of June, when after a conversa
tion with Lieutenant-Colonel Wm. H. Watson, I deter
mined to raise a company of volunteers for a battalion
which he was organizing for twelve months' service.
On the next day, the 2d of June, opened a ren
dezvous in the armory of the Eagle Artillery Com
pany (of which company I was the First Lieutenant),
and another at Trades' Union Hall, corner of Balti
more Street and Tripolett's Alley. Volunteers came
in with extraordinary rapidity, and on the morning of
the 4 th day of June I carried to the city of Washing
ton, by railroad, two officers and fifty-eight men,
the whole having been recruited by me in less than
thirty-six hours. Prior to leaving my rendezvous in

20 MEMOIRS OF A
Baltimore Street, I was honored and gratified by being
presented with a sword and sash by Captain George
P. Kane, the commanding officer, on behalf of the
Eagle Artillery Company, with which I had been con
nected as private and officer for several years.
On reaching Washington we were met by the vol
unteers from Baltimore who had preceded me, and
escorted to the War Department, from whence we
marched to the Marine Barracks, where quarters had
been assigned my recruits.
On the next day sent Lieutenants Francis B.
Schaeffer and Oden Bowie back to Baltimore to bring
more men, who, I had been informed, were anxious
to join the company. They returned on the 7th,
and on the next day, the Sth day of June, 1S46, we
marched to the War Department, and were mustered
into the service of the United States by Lorenzo
Thomas, Major and Assistant-Adjutant-General United
States Army, for twelve months, my company consist
ing of three officers and eighty-four non-commissioned
officers and privates.
The following is the roll of the company, which
was known as" Baltimore's Own " :
Captain, John R. Kenly.
First Lieutenant, Francis B. Schaeffer.
Second Lieutenant, Oden Bowie.
Sergeants : William E, Aisquith, William Hickman,
George 0. Lansdale, Thomas Tyser.
Corporals: Benjamin F. Brand, James H. Mans
field, James A. Beacham, James Tibbies.
Privates : John Andrews, John F. Alexander, John
Allen, Wm. Allen, Lemuel Atkinson, George W.

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 21
Bowie, John A. Billington, Wm. A. Butler, Wm.
Bannister, Samuel Beaston, John Boyd, Edward
Boulanger, Jacob Baker, Edward I. Byram, Richard
H. Belt, James B. Canning, 'George N. Collins, De
Azro A. B. Cutting, Jacob Degomp, Francis M. Dob
bin, Joseph H. Dick, Henry I. Elding, Charles Fis
cher, Louis Fuller, Henry Forbush, Francis Fisher,
George Gordon, Samuel Gelston, Vincent Henxler,
John H. Hipkins, James Henry, Barney Hawkins,
George T. Hugo, Charles Hill, George Healey, Wm.
S. Hatch, Charles Johnson, John S. Johnson, David
Johnson, Leroy Knight, Thomas Leyburn, Thomas
Leveuton, Francis A. Labedie, John Loughry, Sam- •
uel Lockhart, William Macready, George Macnelly,
Joseph B. Millard, James H. Merton, Jacob Morris,
John Magness, Charles W. Matchett, John McGun-
nell, Edward Myers, Henry P. Norris, Francis Louis
Nettan, Franklin B. Nimocks, Josiah Pregg, Charles
Pratt, James Peregoy, Seth S. Rogers, John Reese,
Joseph B. Richard.son, Wm. M. S. Riley, Andrew I.
Ritter, Wm. Rapley, John K. Robinson, James W.
Sullivan, John Smith, Thomas T. Stansbury, Wm. H.
Sibley, John W. Turner, Joseph Wharry, Daniel
Williams, Wm. Wilson, and Ernest Tressel.
The following were subsequently mustered into the
company, viz. :
Privates : John Creamer, Armistead Henderson,
Alexander Ramsay, Henry Heft, and Chas. Heidelbach.
Under the Act of Congress before referred to, the
field and company officers of the volunteers accepted
under the call were to be appointed and commissioned
according to the laws of the State from whence they

22 MEMOIRS OF A
came; and I, with my two lieutenants, were commis
sioned by his Excellency, Thomas G. Pratt, Governor
of the State of Maryland.
The organization to which I was attached was des
ignated " The Battalion of Baltimore and Wash
ington Volunteers," and which became subsequently
widely and Avell known as " The Old Baltimore Bat
talion." It was composed of six companies of in
fantry ; four of them having been recruited in Balti
more, and two of them in the city of Washington,
District of Columbia. They were officered as follows :
Company A, from Baltimore : Captain, James E.
Steuart; Lieutenants, Benjamin Ferguson Owens and
Samuel Wilt ; add'I. Second Lieutenant, David P.
Chapman. Company B, from Baltimore: Captain, James Piper;
Lieutenants, Lawrence, Dolan, and Marcellus K. Tay
lor; add'I. Second Lieutenant, Isaac H. Marrow.
Company C, from Washington : Captain, Robert Bro-
naugh; Lieutenants, Phineas B. Bell, William O'Brien,
Thomas M. Gleason.
Company D, from Washington : Captain, John Waters ;
Lieutenants, Wm. I. Parham, Eugene Boyle, Edward
Murphy. Company E, from Baltimore: Captain, John R. Kenly;
Lieutenants, Francis B. Schaeffer and Oden Bowie ;
add'I. Second Lieutenant, William E. Aisquith.
Company F,* from Baltimore: Captain, James Boyd;
Lieutenants, Joseph H. Ruddach and Robert E. Has-
lett; add'I. Second Lieutenant, James Taneyhill.
* Chesapeake RiSes.

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 23
The whole under the command of Lieutenant-
Colonel William H. Watson, its only field officer.
My commission bore date the 4th day of June, 1846 ;
and on the 13th of the same month I was on board
the transport steamer Massachusetts, bound for the
seat of war in Mexico, with as brave a set of men as
ever wore the uniform of the United States army.
The battalion was of the best material for the service
and the countrv in which it was to be enaiaged, but
lacked trained officers to set it up and make soldiers
of its rank and file. This, time and the effect of
war brought about, and I lived to see the battalion
second to none in the volunteer arm of the service in
appearance and efficiency.
The thread of my memoirs is now taken up from
notes, letters, and diary, mostly made and written as
the events occurred.
June 10, 1846. The battalion was ordered by the
Secretary of War to leave the Marine Barracks, where
it had been quartered, for Fort Washington, on the
banks of the Potomac River, seven miles below the
town of Alexandria. The cause of this unexpected
order was an application from the mayor of the city
of Washington, who had been incensed at the bad
behavior of some of the men, and who, as it was
alleged, had entered into a personal quarrel with
them, in which, as may well be supposed, he was not
much the gainer.
June 13. Left the fort, and embarked on board the
steamer Powhattan, and at S o'clock p.m. arrived
alongside the steamer Massachusetts, lying in the
river, which had been chartered by the Government

24 MEMOIRS OF A
to convey our battalion and a large amount of stores
to Point Isabel, in the Gulf of Mexico. It had been
raining hard all day, and suddenly five hundred men
were thrown upon a steamer of seven hundred tons'
burden, whose hold and deck were filled and covered
with forage and other military stores. A scene of
indescribable confusion ensued, which the darkness
seemed to swell and magnify; and no repose was had
on that night of chaos, except that which was obtained
through pure exhaustion.
June 14. We were in such a condition to-day that,
although it was Sunday, we were forced to drop
down the river about two miles below Alexandria, in
order to make an effort to clear the decks of the ship,
and keep the men on board from the allurements of
their friends, male and female, who had followed
them from Washington and Baltimore. Berths had
been i^repared for two hundred men ; these were in
the main hold, over the bulk of the Government
freight; no accommodations whatever were provided
for the balance of the troops. Carpenters were now
put to work, and a series of bunks were constructed
on the main deck, running from the quarter deck, on
either side of the ship, forward to the forecastle, which
were constructed so as to contain the largest number
of soldiers, and yet permit the seamen to work ship.
These bunks were a frightful source of disorder, and
were the cause of much trouble on the voyage, be
tween the soldiers and the sailors. We had a very
riotous night; but, all the officers being put upon
guard duty, we managed to hold our own, although
it was rough work.

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 25
June 15. Every preparation being made to weigh
anchor ; all hurry, bustle and confusion. An effort was
made to clear the ship by mustering all that were to
sail on the upper deck — my men behaving (as I after
wards learned soldiers become) more like children
than grown men ; one Avanted a pen, another a sheet
of paper, one wanted me to read a letter just received,
another wanted rae to write one for him, another
wanted me to send his money home, another wanted
me to keep it for him, one wanted a wafer, another
ink, one complained that his uniform was too large,
another that his was too small, one said that he was
sick and wanted me to give him medicine, another
that he couldn't find the surgeon — not to be wondered
at, for in the mob that was at that time on board that
ship one's own identity was almost lost.
June 16. Our ship got under weigh at S o'clock
this morning, and immediately a change for the better
came over every man on board the Massachusetts.
Hurra ! we are fairly started for the seat of war ! such
was the joyous greeting which fell from the bright
faces and smiling lips of all those who now crowded
the decks of the transport. At 9 a.m., abreast of
Mount Vernon. Hats off, boys ! Silence, fore and aft!
and thus we floated past the grave of Washington.
At 6 P.M. we were off Piney Point, and fired a
salute as we entered the Chesapeake. Our officers
still keeping guard, we had a more quiet night.
Juiie 17. At 9 a.m., off the capes, the pilot left us,
carrying a large bag of letters. A delightful morning,
but a long swell rolling in is making the landsmen
among our soldiers (there were mauy seamen among

26 MEMOIRS OF A
them ; in my own company there were five men who
had been several years in the United States naval
service before volunteering with me) feel the premo
nitions of sea-sickness. To-day our decks were
scoured, well washed, and some degree of military
discipline attempted.
June 18. At 10 o'clock last night we were off
Cape Hatteras — that dread of all mariners ; we gave
it a Avide berth, though we could distinctly see its
lighthouse. At 4 a.ai. the moon rose, and the sea
looked like a mass of molten gold ; nothing disturbed
its repose in ray morning watch but the play of dol
phins and the dance of Mother Carey's chickens, the
petrel of the wide Atlantic. A fine run to-day, using
both Avind and steam to urge us forward.
Ju7ie 19. Delightful breezes, and making rapid
progress. At 9 a.ai. saw a large vessel, which made
signals to close ; bore away for her, and all was ex
citement, an opinion being prevalent that she Avas a
letter of marque, Avith a Mexican commission. No
one could doubt the earnest Avish of our men that she
might prove to be an enemy, but, on speaking, she
turned out to be an American ship. At 3 p.m. a
beautiful pilot boat, No. 2, came gracefully alongside,
and asked if Ave wished a pilot fur Charleston ; large
shoals of porpoises around us this afternoon. At 6
P.M., wind increasing, all sail Avas set and steam dis
pensed with ; during the night the wind increased to
a hurricane, and the rain descended in torrents;
passed several vessels flying before the wind ; during
the blow, I Avas called upon to quell a serious fight
among my own men. Knives were used, blood spilt,

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 27
and Ave arrested the offenders. Rum Avas the cause
of all the trouble.
June 20. Calm this morning, and the decks covered
Avith sea-sick soldiers, that last night's pitching had
placed hors du combat; dolphins playing around the
ship, as if to charm us with their freedom and grace.
At 4 P.AL the wind suddenly commenced bloAving
A'iolently, causing the ship again to pitch frightfully.
During the night, despite the rolling of the ship, a
pretty general free fight occurred in the hold among
the men, which Avas difficult to quell ; but the officers
uniting and mutually assisting each other, were,
backed by their authority, too strong for the rioters.
We now saw the impolicy of having had the men
paid their advance-money (some tAventy dollars to
each A'olunteer) before Ave sailed from Alexandria.
There was a large quantity of liquor someichere on
board, and the subaltern officers of the steamer,
either directly, or indirectly through the sailors, sold
quantities to our men, Avhich made them mutinous
and disorderly ; it would not haA^e been the case
had there been no money to buy whisky Avith.
June 21 — Sunday. Progressing finely. At 12 o'clock,
noon, latitude 30° 9' north, and laying our course
for Abaco, one of the Bahama Islands ; ship rolling,
and decks literally jammed full of sea-sick soldiers;
saAV that misery did not like company.
June 22. A heavy squall this morning, which
laid the ship over and wet everything ; got sick to-day,
but ascribed it to sympathy for others; the Avind
being adverse, had to resort to our propeller, which
screwed us along nobly. At 6.30 p.m. a topsail

28 MEMOIRS OF A
schooner came bearing doAvn upon us, and the fever
ish excitement incident to the beginning or first
stages of a war, which had made our newspapers
filled with rumors oi lorivateers SAvarming in the Gulf
of Mexico, was now very apparent among our raw
soldiers. Of course she was a privateer, but this Avas
a very coAvardly one; for as soon as those who had
charge of her made out the number of men about our
decks, a change was made in her course as swiftly
as possible; she went about, and ran with all the
speed that was in her. We pursued with steam,
and overhauled her, when, Avith a backed topsail, she
thrcAV out the Cross of St. George, and the meteor flag
of Old England Avas floating over the schooner
Evander, from Nassau for New York. She' Avas a
beautiful craft, and I never saw anything on the sea
more attractive than the picture presented as she
rolled gracefully on the long swell of the ocean — the
setting sun melloAving everything, and sea and sky
in harmony with their gloAving, yet dissolving and
varied, color.s, chasing each other into the shadoAVS of
night. She Avas loaded Avith fruit, and the captain
of the steamer perraitted his mate to visit her to
make purchases. Nearly every man had a commis
sion for him to execute, and the mate returned with
his boat filled Avith pineapples and bananas, for
which he had to give, as he said, a sea-price : four
dollars a bunch for bananas, twenty-five cents apiece
for pineapples. I gave a lot of the bananas to such
of the men as had no money, and to those Avho were
sick. June 23. Our captain this morning said that we

3IARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 29
had lost sixty miles easting, and that Ave Avould reach
Abaco to-night; calm all day, and delightful AA'eather;
the sick getting Avell, and all in good spirits.
June 24. At 4 a.m., off the revolving light on
Abaco. We had passed the " Hole in the AVall," a rock
at one of the points of the island, before it was day
enough to raake out, but I saAv where it ought to be.
The sea Avas as smooth and polished as a mirror this
morning, and the island lay in all the beauty of the
tropics, its undulating shores, Avooded to the beach,
reflected and reproduced upon its bosom, Avhile heavy
clouds, piled like mountains in the background, Avere
being gilded, burnished, and made gorgeous, Avith the
rays of the rising sun. At 6 a.m. Ave Avere in sight
of Berry Island, another of the Bahama group ; beau
tiful water-foAvl Avere floating about us on the smooth
surface of the sea and shoals, or r.ather flocks of flying-
fish Avere leaping and sporting in the two elements of
air and water. At 9 a.m. we Avere east of the Berry
Islands, and a negro raan came off in a boat to us,
bringing fresh fish, milk, eggs, sponge, and shells for
sale, which Avere soon all disposed of The fish Avere
curious to us in shape and color, and made excellent
pan-fish, as we all agreed, in this matter at least, at
dinner time.
So far all had gone well, but a fearful danger Avas
in close proximity. At 2 o'clock p.m. avc Avere going
along with a nine-knot breeze, when tAvo large rocks
hove in sight, which proved to be a couple of heys,
known by the name of " Little Isaacs, " the breakers
tossing madly over them. The men commenced
looking over the sides of the ship in excited nervous

30 31 E MO IRS OF A
manner, talking loudly, and it was soon generally
knoAvn that Ave Avere running with our keel pretty
clo.se to the bottom of the sea; large rocks were
plainly discernible beneath the water, and an uneasy
feeling spread through the ship. Still Ave fleAV along,
little dreaming that our captain was utterly lost, as
he suhsequently admitted that he Avas, when, being
just abreast of the Little Isaacs, our ship struck.
Again she struck, still harder, bringing eA^ery man to
his knees Avho had been standing upon his feet, and
producing a panic terror such as I hope never again to
see. Again she struck, and this time remained hard
and fast upon the rocks beneath us, except, being
lifted by the swell of the ocean, she Avould settle
again, Avith a thump Avhich strained every timber in
her, and every human being on board, to their utmost
tension. The captain screamed and shouted, the men
cried, prayed, and ran Avildly about the decks ; some
jumped into the quarter-boats which hung upon the
davits, others stripped themselves of clothing, no one
doubted but that she Avould go to pieces. The cap
tain threw himself upon his knees in the most abject
terror. I both saAV and heard him crying that all
was lost.
No one assumed command, no one issued an order;
every instant we expected the masts to go over the
sides, and our bottom to be crushed in ; Avhen, no
one can tell hoAV it was done, but the men, that is, our
soldiers who had been men-of-warsmen, lowered a
sail on the mizen mast, called a spanker, Avhich being
immediately filled by the wind, the ship rolled off — I
can describe the sensation I felt in no other way — the

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 3I
rocks upon Avhich Ave had been imbedded, and glided
into deeper water. We Avere still in great danger frora
these hidden perils, and all confidence Avas lost in the
navigation of the ship. The Avind increased in vio
lence, yet Ave had to carry eA^ery rag of canvas in
order to Aveather the "Great Isaacs," another group of
keys some thirteen railes from Avhere Ave had struck ;
it commenced raining very hard, and by 6 p.m. it Avas
perfectly dark, the ship rushing like a race-horse
through the water, with her bulwarks careened to its
surface, under the force of the gale which was blow
ing. It Avas an awful night, and I realized for the
first time the indescribable sensation and effect caused
by darkness and the vicinity of danger, Avhen raen
are massed together. About midnight the captain,
Avho had somewhat recovered his lo.st manhood, said
that he thought Ave Avere noAV .safe and clear of the
keys. Under the mercy of the Almighty, we OAved
our safety to those who had built the Massachusetts ;
it Avas her strong timbers and sound hull that had
saved us from a frightful end. We all felt, and all
said, that we owed our lives to the steamer Massa
chusetts, and our imminent peril to those who navi
gated her.
June 25. At 4 a.m. I went on deck, the ship still
reeling on the heavy sea, though the Avind had abated
its violence. The sun rose like a globe of fire, casting
an angry glance on the turbulent waves, and a large
ship doAvn to the leeward added to the grandeur of
the scene. It soon began to rain, and the wind rose
again : we progressed rajDidly, and about 12 o'clock,
noon, Ave saw land on our lee-bow ; it was the "Carys-

32 MEMOIRS OF A
ford Reef," upon which a light-boat was riding at
anchor; at 4 p.m. we were sailing slowly along the
shores of Florida, still anxious about Aveathering these
well-known and dangerous reefs, the current drifting
us nearer and nearer to the shore as the wind died
aAvay. June 26. On coming to the deck this morning I
found it raining, and the vessel moving quite rapidly
under steam-power, Avhich had been resorted to during
the night by reason of the calm and our proximity to
the shore ; at noon Ave were off Key West, Avhose
houses and shipping Avere visible as Ave lay off" and on
Availing for a pilot. The sea was noAV as smooth as
glass, and the heat of the sun oppressive ; Key West
and its island home, floating upon the bosom of the
Gulf as Venice amid its lagoons ; and three or four
large cotton-ships Avere in our vicinity, lazily yielding
to the gentle motion of the tide.
While AA^e Avere at dinner one of the soldiers caught
a dolphin, and I gazed Avith pain at its unrivaled
colors. It Avas four feet in length, and looked as if it
had been gilded, then spotted Avith blue globes of glass;
as it flapped out its existence on the deck of our dirty
transport, the gold and blue would fade, and then re
appear with alraost their original lustre and beauty,
until the discoloration of death closed my first (as it
Avill certainly be my last) view of the dying dolphin.
It was a painful sight to me.
The pilot who came on board told us that the port
of Tampico had been blockaded by our fleet, and Ave
sent by him a package of letters for home.
At 4 P.M. we were once more out of sight of land, —

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 33
the sea still smooth, no wind, — and making good pro
gress, under steam, across the Gulf of Mexico.
June 28 — Sunday. We have been making good
headway for the past twenty-four hours, the sea still
smooth ; and we haA'e thus been able to use our pro
peller, which, it seems, as we have been suspecting,
don't work when the sea is rough. The heat is very
great, the thermometer (Fahrenheit) ranging from
ninety to ninety-one degrees in the coolest place on the
ship, Avhile it stands several degrees higher in the
cabin : we, the officers, all sleep on deck without any
covering. We have had a good deal of trouble about
the alloAvance of Avater to the men ; the Avhole arrange
ment was very bad, and constant quarrels, with hard
fighting, have been going on for the past forty-eight
hours. We are all noAV just as anxious to get out of
the ship as we were to get on board.
June 29 — six o'clock p.m. Since yesterday there
has not been much change in the atmosphere, ocean,
or anything else, except perhaps a greater desire to
get on shore. It is exceedingly hot, and the crowded
state of our decks (there are upwards of six hundred
men on board this ship of seven hundred tons), Avith
a tropical sun blazing upon us, and the heat engendered
by the fiery furnaces in the ship, with the fear that
our water will give out, — the men already fighting for
their turns to obtain their rations, — and the sick list
swelling at a fearful rate, make us anxious and appre
hensive ; for if our steam-power were to fail us the
thing would be up, as there is no doubt but that our
water is being rapidly exhausted. Our ship has been
twice on fire from the cooking arrangements of the

34 MEMOIRS OF A
men on deck, there having been no places provided for
fires to cook with prior to leaving on our voyage, and
those improvised being very insecure and a constant
source of apprehension, and justly as it turned out to
my mind.
I believe that I have heretofore said our men Avere
paid an advance of some twenty dollars each before
leaving Alexandria. I estimate that about one-half
of the sum paid them, say five thousand dollars, Avas
brought on board the Massachusetts. From the first
hour they came on board until the present time, by
day and by night, except when Ave were in such peril
on the reefs, gambling has been going on under CA-ery
shape and device that skill can suggest; and it has been
a curious subject of study and interest with me to
watch how rapidly the gold and silver was passing
from the many to the few. In less than a Aveek nearly
all the money was in the hands of about fifty men ;
now I am sure that the bulk of the five thousand
dollars is in the pockets, or belonging to, not raore
than twenty of our battalion, if so many. So that
in two weeks the money belonging to say three hun
dred and fifty men (some one hundred of our men did
not gamble), confined upon one ship, had been won
or got from them by not more than a dozen of their
comrades, and from my observation I am sure that,
had the voyage lasted another week, all the money of
those who gambled would have been possessed by two
or three. Surely there is an affinity more or less
strong between certain men and money.
It may be asked, why was this gambling suffered,
as it Avas the fruitful cause of the almost continuous

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 35
fighting in the hold of the ship? The ansAver is plain:
Avhat else Avere they to do in the croAvded pen they
Avere shut up in? Positively there Avas barely space
or room to lie down anyAvhere, and those Avho kept
aAvake playing cards gave room to the others, and
opportunity to get a little sleep. Taking into considera
tion all the discoraforts which the men suffered, and the
uuAvarran table scantiness of the supplies, they behaved
well, and generally speaking Avere respectful to their
officers. If they had been forbidden to play, the order
could not have been enforced in the hive which
swarmed on board our ship.
Ju?ie 30. Hot, hotter, hottest ! Not a breath of
Avind, but steaming ahead rapidly ; all day long Ave
have been panting under the burning rays of the sun,
but indulging in hopes that land Avould soon be in
sight, so that at least Ave might not famish for Avant of
Avater. We are told that we will make the mouth of
the Rio Grande some tirae to-raorroAV, should no acci
dent happen to our raachinery or ship. The little
remaining water in our tanks smells worse than it is
possible to imagine any fluid could smell, yet Ave wish
there Avas more of it. My goodness ! it seems so
strange to me now that any one should ever Avaste
water.

36 MEMOIRS OF A

CHAPTER IL
arrival at the BRAZOS SANTIAGO.
Jidy 1. After seventeen days' confinement, there
is now a prospect of a happy release from this ship.
The island of Brazos is now in sight. At 3 p.m. we
anchored outside of the breakers, Avhich were Avildly
dashing on the sandy beach. A Government steamer
came out an hour after our arriA'al, and took three com
panies of our troops on shore. This was my last night
on board the steamer, and a magnificent .one it was in
the heavens above and the earth and the sea around
and about us, and I Avas about being gratified in the
earnest longing of my heart — to be a soldier.
July 2. At this 6 A.m. a steamer came alongside,
under the management of Major Lyons, of the Loui
siana Brigade, and my company was transported to the
island, upon Avhich I landed, and, forming on the beach
under a burning sun, which peeled me as soon, and as if
done with, scalding water, marched under orders a short
distance up the beach, and halted on some sand-hills,
Avhere, having as yet no shelter, we passed the night
upon the sand, supperless, bedless, with a foretaste of
what Avas in store for us.
I had worked very hard this day, though but par
tially successful, trying to get my stores, tents, and
company property ashore, and the heat of the sun had
nearly prostrated me; but I was full of life and of
health, and my whole heart was in the business I had

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 37
undertaken. Fortunately Ave had found water, al
though brackish, by digging into the sand and sinking
Avells not far from the edge of the Gulf, and the men
generally were as full of life and spirits as I Avas; so
my first day in the field was one of good hope, despite
the grumbling and discontent of sorae.
Ju/y 3. I had tirae to look round rae this morning,
and found the island a small sand spit, lying a few
miles north of the mouth of the Rio Grande, and at
the outlet of the Laguna — or' bay as Ave would call it
— del Madre, and distant a mile or so from the main
land. Immediately north is another but larger island,
named Padre Island, between Avhich and the main
land the Avaters of this Laguna or Bay del Madre
make in from the Gulf of Mexico, and pass out by
the Brazos Santiago, hans: as before said at its mouth.
Point Isabel is in sight, distant three miles up the
lagoon. Upon this point is the Government depot of
supplies for the army of General Taylor. LTpon the
island not a blade of grass or vegetation is groAving —
nothing but sand, and seaward the AATCcks of five
vessels add to the general raisery of the landscape.
Sraall as is the area, several thousand volunteers from
Missouri, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and Loui
siana are lying with us, Avaiting for orders. Though
the sun was gathering strength hourly, from the
heated rays reflected from the burning sands there Avas
no shelter Avhatever for my men, and most of thera
threw themselves into the breakers, Avhich tumbled
with uncea-sing roar upon the beach, for the grateful
luxury of a bath. Here I had the misfortune to lose
one of my men, droAvned in the breakers despite the

38 MEMOIRS OF A
desperate efforts made by his comrades to save him.
His name Avas Richard H. Belt, from Carroll County,
Maryland; and his body neatly sewed up in a blanket
Ave buried, after the burial service of the Episcopal
Church had been read by me, in a grave scooped out
of the sand-hill on the edge of the Gulf. Three volleys
fired by a platoon of soldiers closed the funeral cere
monies, and next morning not a sign could we perceive
of the graA^e or of the hill in which it had been dug,
— all bloAvn aAvay by the wind, which shifts these hills
as it does the snoAV-drifts of northern climes.
July 4. This day one year ago I Avas playing
soldier at Westminster, Maryland, Avith the Eagle
Artillery Company of Baltimore ; now, to say the least
of it, things are very different ; busy, very busy, issu
ing arms and accoutrements, aramunition, mess-pans,
and the other etcetera knoAvn to captains of companies.
The heat of the sun almost unsupportable, but not as
much shelter from its rays as a blade of grass would
afford, — no tents yet. We buried one of Captain
Piper's men to-day in the sand.
July 5. Slept on an arras-chest last night, and arose
this raorning feeling very unwell ; but I kept at work
during the day, and shoved off a spell of sickness.
After nightfall Ave buried in the sand one of Captain
Steuart's men ; this tirae the grave was holloAved at
the top of the hill, around whose sides clustered the
members of his company. A fire had been built in
the vicinity, to give light. The sea Avas tumbling in on
the beach Avith deafening roar, whilst the moon would
now and then burst from behind a bank of cloiids,
lighting up, with the rays from the fire, the men who

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 39
Avith uncovered heads Avere trying to catch the Avords
of the burial service, which it was impossible to hear
for the noise of the surf It Avas a soleran and im
pressive scene, producing a marked effect upon the
rough men gathered around the grave of a corarade,
thus cut off away from horae and kindred, and thus
buried Avhere to-morrow no one might find his final
resting-place. ¦July 6. I paid a visit, by boat, to Point Isabel, on
the other side of the lagoon. I found the troops here in
excellent order, very different from our state on the
Brazos. Things looked tidy and military. Visited the
hospital, and was much affected by the appearance of
the Avounded Mexicans, they looked so sad and piti
able, and Avill not soon forget the look of gratitude
Avliich one gave me Avhen I brushed off from his
wounded stump, to Avhich the sheet was fastened Avith
clotted gore, the flies which had settled upon it. I
also Avhilst here got copies of the following
PROCLAMATIONS ISSUED BT THE MEXICANS.
Shortly after arriving opposite Matamoras, the fol-
loAving proclamation was circulated through the Ameri
can camp.
" The Commander-in-Chief of the 3Iexican Army to the English
and Irish under the American General Taylor.
"Knoav Ye : That the Government of the United States is com
mitting repeated acts of barbarous aggression against the magnan
imous Mexican nation ; that the Government which exists 'under
the flag of the stars ' is unworthy the designation of Christian.
Recollect that you were born in Great Britain, that the American
Government looks with coldness upon tlie powerful flag of Eng
land, and is provoking to a rupture the warlike people to whom

40 MEMOIRS OF A
it belongs. President Polk boldly manifesting a desire to take
possession of Oregon as he has already done of Texas. Now
then corae with all confidence to the Mexican ranks, and I guar
antee to you, upon my honor, good treatment, and that all your
expenses shall be defrayed until your arrival in the beautiful capi
tal 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 Ampitdia.
" Francisco R. !Morbno, Adjutant of the Coramnnder-in-Chief.
" Head-Quarters upon the road to Matamoras, April 2, 1846."
On the tAventy-first of the same month, April, the
following proclamation was also circulated among the
American soldiers, intended, like the former, to make
them betray their country. "Head-quarters at Matamoras,
" April liO, 184C.
"Soldiers! You have enlisted in a time of peace to serve in
that army for a specific time ; but your obligations never implied
that you were bound to violate the laws of God, and the most
sacred right of friends. The United States Government, contrary
to the wishes of a majority of all honest and honorable Ameri
cans, has ordered you to take /orcifcZe possession of the territory
of & friendly neighbor, who has never given her consent to such
occupation. In other words, while the treaty of peace and com
merce between Mexico and the United States is in full force, the
United States, presuming on her strength and prosperity, and on
our supposed imbecility and cowardice, attempts to make you
the blind instruments of her unholy and mad ambition, and/orce
you to appear as the hateful robbers of our dear homes, and the
* The Mexican flag was red, white, and green.

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. ¦ 4I
unprovoked violators of our dearest feelings as men and patriots.
Such villany and outrage I know is perfectly repugnant to the
noble sentiments of any gentleman, and it is base and foul to
rush you on to certain death, in order to aggrandise a few law
less individuals in defiance of the laws of God and man.
" It is to no purpose if they tell you that the law for the an
nexation of Texas justifies your occupation of the Rio Bravo del
Norte, for by this act they rob us of a great part of Tamaulipas,
Coahuila, Chihuaha, and Xew Mexico; and it is barbarous to
send a handful of men on such an errand against a powerful and
warlike nation. Besides, most of you are Europeans, and we
are the declared friends of most of the nations of Europe. The
North Americans are ambitious, overbearing, and insolent as a
nation, and they will only make use of you as vile tools to carry
out their abominable plans of pillage and rapine.
" I warn you in the name of justice, honor, and your own in
terests and self-respect, to abandon their desperate and unholy
cause, and become peaceful Mexican citizens. I guarantee you
in such a case a half-section of land, or three hundred and twenty
acres, to settle upon gratis. Be wise then, and just, and honor
able, and take no part in murdering us who have no unkind feel
ings for you. Lands shall be given to ofiicers, sergeants, and
corporals, according to rank, privates receiving three hundred
and twenty acres as stated.
"If in time of action you wish to espouse our cause, throw
away your arms and run to us, and we will embrace you as true
friends and Christians. It is not decent or prudent to say
more. But should any of you render important service to
Mexico, you shall be accordingly considered and preferred.
" (Signed) " M. Arista,
" Commander-in-Chief of the Mexican Army."
July 9. Took up our line of march for the invasion
of Mexico, and reached the Rio Grande, or Rio Bravo
del Norte, distant eight miles from where we had
landed on the Brazos. We crossed the Boca Chica, an
arm of the sea, about 500 yards wide, which separates

42 ME 310 IRS OF A
the island of Brazos Santiago from the mainland, and
which makes in from the Gulf of Mexico to the Laguna
del Madre, and through which also the waters of the
latter communicate Avith the Gulf
Our road lay for two miles through a desert of sand,
the sun blazing down upon us Avith an intensity of
heat never before experienced ; Ave then struck the
beach, upon Avhich, the sand being harder, the men
marched with more ease ; Ave forded the Boca Chica,
the water averaging about three feet in depth. The
sea Avas very grateful to our parched skin, but it Avas
very difficult to adA'ance through, and the line of troops
becarae straggling and disordered. Another hour's
marching brought us to the river, Avithin fifty yards
of which Ave bivouacked, in rear of a Tennessee regi
ment. This was our first march, and no one Avho
made it Avill ever forget it. I felt as if I were on fire,
my nose being one blister, and my hands apparently
scorched, and feeling just that Avay.
July 10. Face much swollen this morning; so much
so that my eyes are nearly closed, and face feels as if
it were burning; a good deal alarmed, until our sur
geon told me it was only an effect of the fatigue and
exposure of yesterday. The mosquitoes troubled us
all a good deal last night, and the men, generally, out
of sorts to-day.
July 12 — Sunday. Still at the mouth of the Rio
Grande, or Boca del Rio, as the Mexicans call it, which
means.mouth of the river; and a very picturesque place
it is. But this cannot account for the halt in our ad
vance. Last night I Avent wolf-hunting, but saw none,
though we heard plenty. Shot a couple of plover by

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 43
moonlight, and ate them this morning for breakfast.
There appears to be a great deal of game in this coun
try, and various kinds of fish are found in the lagoons,
some large enough to be bayoneted by the men, and
some are knocked in the head with clubs* — all good
eating; at any rate the soldiers prefer them to salt
beef and pork.
July 16. Still at the mouth of the Rio Grande;
and Ave are well enough satisfied, but can't account
for the unexpected delay to our advance. There is
one serious trouble here, and that is the mosquitoes.
We really get but little sleep, and our camp at night
is filled Avith raen Avandering about for shelter from
these intolerable pests, and filling the air Avitli impre
cations upon their ruthless assailants. No kind of
clothing is proof or protection against their bites ;
they piei'ce through, Avith their stings, pantaloons,
drawers, stockings, and (some deliberately assert)
boots. All night long, Avithout the slightest intermis
sion, they continue their attacks, and the assertion of
many that they are nearly driven crazy is not much
exaggerated. This morning three companies of the Tennessee
volunteers, encamped Avith us, left for up the river, and
Ave are in hopes that our turn will soon corae. Already
this place shows the advance of the Anglo-Saxon
race : stearaboats and schooners arriving and departing
daily, discharging provisions, stores, and troops for the
"array of occupation,'' as some have been pleased to
call Taylor's troops. To-day a company of strolling
* This is a camp fish story.

44 31EM0IRS OF A
players, bound for Matamoras, and hailing from Ncav
Orleans, stopped at the landing. I must confess to
looking upon them with much interest, and — must I
say it ? — with pity. The ladies of the troupe grati
fied the men of our troop by casting bottles of wine
from the steamer's deck into their midst, whilst to add
to the hilarity of the occasion, they graciously sang for
thera a few of their favorite airs. Ah, me! poor
Avomen ! Though full of apparent gayety, my heart
bled for them.
July 18. I crossed the riA'er this morning in a shijD's
quarter-boat, and stepped upon undisputed Mexican
soil. There Avas quite a little town here once, called
Bagdad (I wonder if the Tigris Avere ever such a riA^er
as this angry, muddy, crooked Rio Grande!) but some
seventeen years ago a hurricane destroyed it, Avith two
thousand of its inhabitants. It is still called after its
name, but instead of houses there are but Avretched
cabins, in Avhich dwell fifty or sixty natives, called in
the language of the country rancheros, whose busi
ness, from all I could learn, was herding or having in
charge herds of cattle, Avhicli grazed in the neighbor
hood. When Ave got back we learned that a corporal
of a company of regulars stationed at the landing
had been murdered during our absence, by a prisoner
of his own company whom he had under guard ; his
burial took place this evening — this is the fourth since
we landed.
Jidy 19. This morning it commenced raining, ac
companied with a violent wind, and in a short time
our low land Avas completely flooded ; directly in front
and rear of my company the water collected in pools of

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 45
from one to tAvo feet deep, whilst everything in ray tent
was rendered darap and disagreeable by the incessant
rain. The Avind howled around us, and the surf
thundered on the shore ; laxge flocks of sea-birds flew
overhead, and the ponds of water within a few yards
of our carap were covered with plover, snipe, and cur-
leAA^s. In the course of the day we had to change the
location of some of the tents, as they were flooded
Avith Avater.
July 20. Still raining ; but before noon the sun
came out, and we dried our clothing and blankets. A
regiment of Alabama volunteers arrived to-day, and
encamped upon our left ; they are a fine-looking set
of men.
July 22. A regiment of Louisiana volunteers ar-
riA^ed to-day, frora Mataraoras, en route for horae ; it
is a portion of the volunteers called forth by General
Taylor, Avhose term of three months' service is about
expiring ; the officers Avere very indignant that the
General would not accept their offer to continue in the
service and re-volunteer for twelve raonths.
.July 23. Left the mouth of the river, and, ascend
ing the left bank, after a distressing march of fourteen
or fifteen miles over a country flooded by the recent
rains and a rise of the Rio Grande, reached our camp
ing ground opposite to the Mexican town of Burita.
July 24. Our carap Avas pitched upon a ridge Avell
covered with chaparral and well filled Avith rattle
snakes ; Ave cleared out both, and our men, having got
up their tents and killed some wild cattle, Avere soon
comfortable with fresh beef and rest.
July 25. The delay in obtaining transportation

46 31 E MO IRS OF A
for army purposes has compelled General Taylor to
postpone his advance ; and, to preserve the health of
his troops, whose nurabers are daily increasing from the
continuous arrival of tAvelve months' men, he has or
dered their encampment upon the highlands skirting
the river betAveen this and Matamoras. It is a wilder
ness upon which the foot of man has rarely trod ;
wild cattle and horses are running over the prairie
lands wliich skirt this ridge on either side to the
river, and the lagoons Avhich chequer the flats are
filled Avith red-winged flamingo, — the ibis of the Egyp
tians, — wild geese, duck, and other aquatic fowl ; on
the long branches of the willow-like trees Avere birds
SAvarming, and warbling their peaceful melodies, and
the open grounds were floAvered with all variety of
cacti and the Spanish bayonet-plant. The back
ground of the open vista wore the ever-varying colors
of the dense chaparral, while the broad and SAvollen
torrent of the Rio Grande flowed between us and the
toAvn of Burita, around whose adobe houses the Avhite
tents of our volunteers Avere pitched, adding interest
by their contrast to the novel country in which Ave
were now sojourning.
Jtdy 26 — Sunday. Having received an invitation
from Captain Arnold, Second United States Dragoons,
I crossed the river to Burita, and dined with him.
Here I met my old friend Randolph Ridgely, of Balti
more, now a lieutenant in the late Captain Ringgold's
Battery of Light Artillery, and Avho had particularly
distinguished himself in the battles of the Sth and 9th
of May — Palo Alto, and Resaca de la Palma. After
dinner we had a horse-race between Colonel Bailie

3IARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 47
Peyton, of the Louisiana Volunteers, and Randolph
Ridgely, in which Peyton's horse won : which he
Avould not have done, as Ridgely laughingly said, if
the race-course had been the road towards the
enemy. July 28. Our carap was the scene of a fearful riot
to-day. and one Avhich came near being a bloody
battle between our battalion and the First Ohio regi-
merjt of volunteers. The difficulty commenced on
the banks of the river, about a catfish Avhich had
just been caught, and was clairaed by men of both
regiments. A fight ensued, Avhen Colonel Mitchell,
the commanding officer of the Ohio regiment, inter
fered, and, drawing his SAvord, cut one of our men in
several places. His sword was soon taken from him,
broken in pieces, and he carae to camp. I saAv him
approaching, heard him order his men to parade Avith
ball-cartridges, and they were soon hurrying in large
numbers, without any semblance of formation, to the
river bank, loading their muskets as they ran. At
the same time the cry was raised, " Turn out, Balti-
moreans !" in our camp ; the men seized their guns,
loaded them, and singly and in squads hastened
doAvn to the river after the Ohio men, to help our raen
there who Avere armed. Some of our officers, seized
with the same frenzy as the men, behaved in the
most outrageous raanner, issuing cartridges in person,
and inciting their corapanies to hurry into the ap
proaching battle. Colonel Watson was absent, and
somehow or other I took the whole responsibility on
myself; keeping my own company in their company
street, Avith the assurance that if the fight commenced

48 ME3I0IRS OF A
they should go to help their comrades. I ran among
the most violent, and between those who- were about
to fire into each other, and, by commands and entrea
ties, kept them from firing. I knew that one shot
would be the signal of a bloody struggle, and for
tunately at this moraent Lieutenant-Colonel John B.
Weller, of the Ohio regiment, came upon the ground.
I shall never forget how his behavior relieved me ; I
saw him coming, and feared that he was as crazy as
the others; and if he had been, there's no telling
where Avould have been the end of that day's work.
His first order was for the men to go back to camp,
and that the officers of the tAvo regiments Avould
settle the difficulty ; this brought our ranking officer.
Captain James E. Steuart, and Colonel Mitchell, to
the front, and they were personally friendly. Soon
other officers joined the group, and, forming a line
between the tAvo bodies of men (who by this time
had arranged themselves in order of battle), we got
them aAvay from their lines, and finally back to carap.
On the same night Colonel Mitchell proceeded to
Matamoras, to lay a complaint before General Taylor
against the Baltimore Battalion ; thereupon Colonel
Watson ordered Captaia Steuart and me to go there
also, to rebut any charges which Mitchell might make.
Jidy 29. Crossed over to Burita, and bought a
mustang pony for six dollars, to ride to Matamoras ;
but, a steamer coming along, preferred that Avay of
travelling as not being quite so dangerous, apart from
all other reasons. Went on board the steamer Vir
ginia, and ascended the Rio Grande to Matamoras.
I had seen and heard tell of the crookedness of this

31 A RYLAND VOLUNTEER. 49
grand river, but there is no Avay of showing hoAv
tortuous is its course except by the illustration given
by an Alabama A^olunteer; he said '"he had seen a
croAV fly from the top of a tree, folloAV up the course
of the river for fifteen minutes, then light; and it lit
on the same tree it had started from."'-=
For several railes above Burita both banks Avere
lined Avith the white tents of the volunteers scattered
along at intervals, Avhere good camping-ground was to
be found ; soon, hoAvever, these disappeared, and were
succeeded by groves of plantain, Avillow-cotton, and
other southern trees. We " pulled up "' for the night
at a rancho on the river bank, at about thirty railes
by the river beloAV the city. It Avas at this point the
Mexicans, four thousand strong, had crossed the riA'er
to intercept and cut General Taylor's communications
Avitli Point Isabel.
¦hdy 30. Arrived at the city of Matamoras, and,
accompanied by Lieutenant Randolph Ridgely, Avho
had kindly volunteered to introduce us, proceeded at
once to General Taylor s quarters. We found the old
* The windings of the Rio Grande are remarkable. There is
one hacienda on its banks which a boat passes in front of seven
times after coming in sight of, and before actually reaching it,
— the river making seven close convolutions east and west in
perhaps twelve miles of country ; and there is one of the turns
where you pass a long low bank for five miles, and can look
over and see the river again not one hundred feet from you on
the other edge. Thus, after sailing in reality ten miles along
the voyager has actually only advanced two hundred yards.
The same writer says that the river at Camargo presented the
same appearance as it did a thousand miles above. — A Cam
paign in New 3Iexico, by Frank S. Edwards.
4

50 3IE310IRS OF A
general Avriting in a tent, around which was strewed
large numbers of newspapers, and before Avhich — I Avas
struck with the fact — no guard Avas stationed. He
came out to receive us, when Ridgely, after intro
ducing us, left the place. I opened the business, and
gave our version of the difficulty with the Ohio
volunteers. As I progressed, the general looked very
black, and I argued very unfiivorably for the success
of our mission ; but Avhen I told him that my company
had been kept in camp, and had not participated in
the riot (although, in point of fact, it Avas commenced
by one of my own soldiers; of this, however, I was
ignorant at the time), his countenance lightened up a
little. When I had got through Avitli my stateraent,
the general said "it Avas an unfortunate occurrence,
but inasmuch as the whole matter AA'ould be referred to
a court of inquiry. Colonel Mitchell having preferred
charges against some of our officers and men, he would
Avait until their finding was raade knoAvn before he
Avould take any further notice of it^and to hold
ourselves in readiness to march to Camargo in eight
or ten days."*
The conclusion of his reply — " to hold ourselves in
readiness to raarch " — so warmed my heart to the
general, that he made me his friend at that instant;
for it should be remarked that rumor had it we were
to be disbanded. I Avas much taken also with his
simplicity of raanner, the total absence of all preten-
* No court was ever ordered, as far as I know, and the whole
matter waa dropped officially ; but the embers of discontent re
mained smouldering, and at times manifesting themselves, be
tween the two regiments, as long as we were in the service.

31 A RYLAND VOLUNTEER. 51
sion in dre,?s and address, and the unmistakable regret
Avhich he showed that he felt, at this serious difficulty
betAveen the volunteers of his army.
We returned to Ridgely's tent, Avhere Ave dined, and
then Avalked from carap into the city. Matamoras is
an old Spanish town on the right bank of the Rio
Grande, about forty miles from its mouth, and, though
bearing marks of decay, is still the second town in
importance in Northern Mexico. It covers about tAvo
miles square, but is not compactly built as are Ameri
can cities, every house, except in the raain plaza or
public square, having a large garden surrounding it.
All the AvindoAvs of the houses in the business part of
the town are grated from top to bottom Avith iron
bars, Avhich gives them the appearance of prisons.
The plaza, in the centre of the city, has on three
of its sides very respectable blocks of houses, occu
pied by the merchants, and on its other side a cathe
dral, Avhich, though unfinished, presents a venerable,
church-like look. After leaving the plaza the houses
decrease in size for some distance, until the small reed
and thatched huts terminate in the suburbs. All of
the more Avealthy inhabitants had fled the city after
the defeat of their army at Resaca, for it sAvarmed
Avith the robbers and desperadoes cut loose from the
military bands, and now organized for plunder. All
military and ciA'il law ended Avith the defeat of Arista,
and the inhabitants of Matamoras suffered more
horrors from these outlaws than they would have
done from a long siege.
The stores on the plaza Avere now occupied by
American merchants, sutlers, tavern-keepers, billiard-

52 31E3IOIRS OF A
rooms, etc., which Avere crowded with soldiers; and
the indescribable bedlam Avhich the picture presented
will not soon be forgotten. Many of the houses show
the effect of our cannonading from Fort BroAvn on the
other side of the river, and I saw two thirty-two-
pound balls lying in a yard, where, after passing en
tirely through several houses, they Avere now lying
quietly side by side, as harmless as the dead.
I Avent into the market, and here the scene was
entirelv native. A row of Avomen were sitting on
their haunches, Avith crocks of milk before them, from
Avhich they sold the milk by the cupfuU to their pur
chasers ; others in the sarae position, selling little par
cels of eggs, — three in a pile, — red peppers, peaches,
melons of several varieties, and many kinds of A^ege-
tables unknown by narae or sight. Game of various
kinds Avas being carried about for sale and the prices
cried out with melodious voices. Others Avere engaged
cooking for the hungry, Avhile the men Avere busy buy
ing and selling horses (all in the same market), coav.s,
sombreros, corn, hay, bread, and meat, which latter
looked as Avell butchered as any in our markets. The
place Avas crowded with our volunteers, and groups
of Mexicans, clustered together, were eyeing them
Avith no friendly gaze, Avhile the demeanor of their
women was gentle, peaceful, and apparently confiding;
there Avas no look or appearance of alarm in any of
the Avomen. After leaving the market, I Avent into
several stores still kept by their Mexican shopkeepers,
and finally got into one Avhich bothered me : persons
seemed not only to be buying, but also selling, Avith
scarcely a word uttered by buyer or seller. I inquired

31 A RYLAND VOLUNTEER. .53
the price of an article, and after a good deal of diffi
culty of interchanging my good (as I thought) for
their bad Spanish, I found out that I Avas in a pawn
brokers shop. We AA'ent into General Ampudia's
house and got some refreshments from its American
occupant, then into the house of the late prefect of
the city, to play billiards, and finally into the " Fonda
del Commercio" to supper, on rabbits, eggs, kidneys,
and coffee. After supper Ave went to the theatre, and
recognized our quondam friends whom we had met at
the mouth of the river. Such an audience ! The
Texan Rangers Avere there, pistols and knives in their
belts, many Avitli SAVords at their sides, others Avith
long rifles, while drunken volunteers from nearly
every southern State of the Union Avere mingled Avith
regulars of the horse, foot, and artillery arms of the
service, in a medley of wild, riotous dissipation and
confusion. I do not believe that anybody ever did
know w^hat Avas being played that night in that thea
tre. On leaving the house, Steuart and I tried to find
a lodging-place, and succeeded, Calle Guanaxiudo, in
finding room on a floor to lie down, as Ave had stood,
Avith fifty or si.xty snoring men around, some Avith,
others, like ourselves, Avithout, blankets.
August 1. We left Matamoras by a steamer which
Avas going down the river, and had a disagreeable
time, as Ave ran aground on a sand-bar, where Ave laid
thirty-six hours, exposed to the merciless attacks of
mosquitoes more virulent in their venom than those
at the mouth of the river. We arrived at carap on
the fourth, and I brought the glad tidings that Ave
Avere to march.

54 MEMOIRS OF A
August 5. It is high time that we should leave this
camp ; it has been raining hard here for the past three
days, and it is nothing but muck and mire ; besides,
drinking the muddy water (yes, it is as muddy as
that in any mud-puddle) of the Rio Grande is be
ginning to tell on the men. We have too raany
sick, mostly with the diarrhoea, for our numbers, and
it is thought a considerable number will have to be
discharged. August 6. We received orders to march ; two com
panies, with all the heavy baggage and stores, were to
ascend the river in a stearaer to Camargo, the other
four companies to go by land ; and it was to be deter
mined by lot Avhich companies Avere to ride. Chance
decided in favor of Captains Steuart and Waters, and
the footmen coraraenced getting ready to trarap.
August 7. The whole camp alive to-day. Com
panies A and D, Steuart's and Waters's, left by steamer
for Camargo, distant by the river about two hundred
and fifty miles, some say not more than one hundred
and eighty miles. I sent my servant Ned by the
steamer under care of Captain Steuart, and discharged
four of ray men, Boulanger, Cutting, Pratt and Tur
ner, on account of inability to march, by reason of
sickness. August 11 — Sunday. All the sick of the battalion
that were discharged, numbering thirty-three, left for
the United States, and were accompanied by Doctor
DoA'e, of Washington, our surgeon, who also desired
to return ; their departure cast a good deal of gloom
over those who remained, but as I had sent all my
men who were unable to march up the river by the

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 55
steamer, and had got relieved from the care of the
sick, I Avas in good spirits and anxious to start.
August 13. On the evening of the llth we crossed
the Rio Grande in a steamer to Burita, and took up
our line of raarch for Mataraoras, Avhich Ave reached
this day about noon ; distance variously estimated at
from tAventy-six to thirty miles. 1 lost a man from
my company, named McGunnell, on the march, and
Avas unable to account for his absence. Our road from
Burita Avas raostlj' through the Avater, and Ave Avaded
one lagoon of three miles wide, Avith an average of
three feet of Avater in depth, and in some places four
feet, Avithout a halt; many of the men caught hold
of each other for support, as the fatigue of this Avading
through such a depth of Avater for such a distance
is inconceivable. For a distance of eighteen miles
the road was a muck; and happy those who marched
at the head of the column, for those at the rear had
to go through a heaA'ier mire on account of the foot
steps of those in front. The recent overfloAv of the
Rio Grande had raade the roads impassable except for
American volunteers.
August 14. We are now at Matamoras, and on
the eve of important operations ; let us take a retro
spect, and also a glance at the present status and con
dition of affairs. After the battles of the Sth and 9th
of May, General Arista recrossed the river and occu
pied this toAvn with his shattered forces. Our troops
commenced crossing the river on the 13th, prepara
tory to an assault. Arista asked for an armistice,
Avhich Taylor refused to grant, but said that he raight
withdraAV his forces on condition of leaving the property

56 ME3I0IRS OF A
of the city uninjured. When our troops had effected
a crossing (their landing on the Mexican soil being
undisputed), preparations Avere made for an assault;
a parley, however, was sounded, Avhen the authorities
of the city answered that General Arista had aban
doned the place with all his troops, and that the city
of Matamoras was at the disposal of General Taylor.
Our troops took possession, the American flag Avas
hoisted, and the march to the " halls of the Monte-
zumas " about to be undertaken.
Large numbers of volunteers Avere arriving to SAvell
the little array of regulars into an army in facl^but
supplies Avere not coraing commensurate Avitli the
number of raen, and the means of transportation
were totally inadequate to move the large force
now constituting General Taylor's "army of occu
pation." Hence the delay on the Rio Grande, and the loss of
precious time on its banks. In the meantime impor
tant movements and changes Avere taking place among
the Mexican people and rulers. The defeat of Arista
"had rendered him unpopular, and a great deal of dis
satisfaction and confusion of opinions prevailed araong
all classes. Toward the end of June an election was
held throughout the States of Mexico, and General
Paredes was declared elected President, over Herrera,
and General Bravo Vice-President, of Mexico. The
ultra war party had triumphed, and Arista and other
revolutionists defied the authority of the new Presi
dent, yet united Avith him in the gi'ito (cry), Guerra al
cuchillo, "war to the knife," against the Yankees.
There is no doubt Avhatever in my mind that the

3IA RYLAND VOLUNTEER. 57
sentiment of the Mexicans was unanimous for war.'"
They kneAV no more of Avhat had brought an army
of foreigners upon their territory, than did the natives
of New Zealand. No press, no public opinion, con
stant revolutions and internecine strife, ^oiu Avere they
to knoAV Avhat their rulers had been doing, or ivhat the
foreign relations of their Government ?
General Taylor very Avisely, I think, undertook to
enlighten them, and before we left Matamoras issued
the following proclamation to the inhabitants of
Mexico, Avhich had, however, about as rauch effect as
the iftcendiary raanifests of Ampudia and Arista. Still
I thought it Avas right, and cordially approved its pur
pose ; for that General Taylor was sincerely desirous
of protecting all inhabitants of the country that Avould
remain neutral during the impending conflict, I am
abundantly satisfied. "A Proclamation.
" By the General Commanding the Army of the United States of
America, to the People of 3Iesico.
" After many years of patient endurance, the United States are
at length constrained to acknowledge that a war exists between
our Government and the Government of Mexico. For many j-ears
our citizens have been subjected to repeated insults and injuries;
our vessels and cargoes have been seized and confiscated, our
merchants have been plundered, maimed, imprisoned, without
cause and without reparation. At length your Government ac
knowledged the justice of our claims, and agreed by treaty to
make satisfaction by payment of several milKons of dollars ; but
this treaty has been violated by your rulers, and the stipulated
* After a long sojourn in this country, I bave seen nothing,
heard nothing, to make me change the above opinion.

58 3IE3IOIRS OF A
payment has been withheld. Our late effort to terminate all tbe
difficulties by peaceful negotiation has been rejected by the Dic
tator Paredes; and our minister of peace, whom your rulers had
agreed to receive, has been refused a hearing. He bas been
treated with indignity and insult, and Paredes has announced
that war exists between us. This war, thus first proclaimed by
him, has been acknowledged as an existing fact by our own Presi
dent and Congress with perfect unanimity, and will be prosecuted
with vigor and energy against your army and rulers; but those
of the Mexican people who remain neutral will not be molested.
" Your Government is in the hands of tyrants and usurpers.
They have abolished your State Governments, they have over
thrown your federal constitution, they have deprived you of the
right of suffrage, destroyed the liberty of the press, despoiled
you of your arms, and reduced you to a state of absolute de
pendence upon the power of a military dictator. Your armies
and rulers e.xtort from the people by grievous taxation, by forced
loans, and military seizures, the very money which sustains the
usurpers in their power. Being disarmed, you were left defence
less and as an easy prey to the savage Comanches, who not only
destroy your lives and property, but drive into captivity more
horrible than death itself your wives and children. It is your
military rulers who have reduced you to this deplorable condi
tion. It is these tyrants and their corrupt and cruel satellites,
gorged with the people's treasure, by whom you are thus op
pressed and impoverished, — some of whom have boldly advocated
a monarchical government, and would place a European prince
upon the throne of Mexico. We come to obtain reparation for
repeated wrongs and injuries ; we come to obtain indemnity for
the past, and security for the future ; we come to overthrow the
tyrants who have destroyed your liberties ; but we come to make
no war upon the people of Mexico, nor upon any form of free
government they may choose to select for themselves.
******** " We corae among the people of Mexico as friends and republi
can brethren; and all who receive us as such shall be protected,
whilst all who are seduced into the army of your Dictator shall
be treated as enemies. We shall Avant from you nothing but food

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 59
for our army, and for this you shall always be paid in cash the
full value. It is the settled policy of your tyrants to deceive
you in regard to the character and policy of our Government and
people. These tyrants fear the example of our free institutions,
and constantly endeavor to misrepresent our purposes, and in
spire you Avitb hatred for your republican brethren of the Ameri
can Union. Give us but the opportunity to undeceive you, and
3'ou will soon learn that all the representations of Paredes were
false, and were only made to induce you to consent to the estab
lishment of a despotic government. In your struggle for liberty
with the Spauish monarchy thousands of our countryraen risked
their lives and shed their blood in your defence. Our own com
modore, the gallant Porter, maintained your flag upon the ocean;
and our Government Avas the first to acknowledge your indepen
dence. With pride and pleasure we enrolled j'our name on the
list of independent republics, and sincerely desired that you
might in peace and prosperity enjoy all the blessings of free gov
ernment. "Me.xicans! we must treat as enemies, and overthrow, the
tyrants who, whilst they have wronged and insulted us, have de
prived 3-0U of your liberty ; but the Mexican people who remain
neutral during the contest shall be protected agaiust their mili
tary despots by the republican army of the Union.
" (Signed) " Z, Taylor,
" Brevet Major-General U. S. A. Commanding."

CHAPTER IIL
THE EIO GRANDE.

The river Rio Grande, or Bravo del Norte, finds its
sources in the sierras of the Rocky Mountains in about
40 j° north latitude, and, running a southeasterly
course of nearly two thousand miles, flows a mighty

60 31EM0IRS OF A
torrent into the Gulf of Mexico. This flood of Avaters,
meeting the swell and tides of the Gulf, causes a bar,
shifting and dangerous, at the mouth of the river.
With our command of the sea, the river necessarily
becarae the base of General Taylor's objective move
ments, and, despite the bar at its mouth, steamers draAv-
ing not less than six to eight feet Avere carrying by its
means his supplies some two hundred to three hun
dred railes into the interior.
To cut loose from this ba,se, and advance through a
hostile country coraparatively unknown, in pursuit of
an enemy whose power of endurance Avas undisputed,
and Avhose numbers were known to be large, required
courage of a high order and self-reliance in an equal
degree. General Zachary Taylor possessed both, and he had
now mapped out in his own raind a campaign Avhich,
in the end, gave great lustre to the American arms.
His first move now Avas to concentrate all the troops,
regular and volunteer, that he proposed to use for his
advance, at Camargo, a town on the banks of the San
Juan River, a few railes above Avhere it empties into
the Rio Grande. It is Avorthy of remark, in demon
strating that a soldier's value is in proportion to his
experience, that the steamers first purchased by the
Government in New Orleans Avere of too heavy draught
of water to cross the bar at the mouth of the river,
and those that could be procured of sufficiently light
draught it Avas deemed unsafe to trust to cross the Gulf
of Mexico ; so that the delay which had occurred was
owing in fact to an ignorance of detail, the responsi
bility for which rested nowhere. Finally light-draught

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 61
steamers ventured across the Gulf, and, with the
Avrecks of some half-dozen of their number lying on
the bar, they found their Avay into and up the river
to Camargo, distant two hundred and fifty miles from
its mouth, and our future depot of supplies. Strange,
that an army operating in this valley of the Rio
Grande should have to look for its subsistence to the
great valley of the Mississippi, which had been, as this
noAv Avas, the extreme Avestern limit of hardy enter
prise and daring.
In the meantime the Texan Rangers had cleared
the small posts held by the Mexicans betAveen Mata
raoras and Camargo of all their armed defenders, and,
Avith a regiment of our volunteers at Reynosa, the
eneray had gradually been driven back frora the river,
and Avas soineAvhere concentrating at the base of the
Sierra Madre mountains.
On the 14th day of August our battalion Avas bri
gaded Avith six companies of Kentucky volunteers,
called the Louisville Legion, and tAvelve corapanies of
Ohio volunteers, making a brigade of about tAvo
thousand raen.
August 15. Left Matamoras, to raarch with the
brigade to Camargo, distant from 130 to 150 miles,
by Avhat Avas called the mountain road.
Our march Avas over a desert rather than a moun
tainous country ; from the time Ave left the Rio
Grande at Matamoras, until we struck the San Juan
River on the 23d of August, not a stream, rivulet,
brook, or spring, did Ave see or hear of, the only water
to be had being found in ponds or tanks, as they Avere
called, in which rain-Avater had been collected for the

62 ME 310 IRS OF A
use of the cattle. We suffered very much, and our
march was more that of a routed army of stragglers
than the advance of a well-organized brigade.
The distance from Matamoras to Camargo, by my
calculation, was one hundred and thirty miles, and of
this we marched seventy-eight miles in four days'
continuous marching. On the first day of the march
Ave made ten miles, on the second day eleven miles,
on the third day twenty-six miles, on the fourth day
but five miles, the men being completely exhausted
from the preceding days' fatigue and suffering ; on the
fifth day twenty railes, on the sixth day eighteen
miles, on the seventh day seventeen miles, and on the
eighth day tAventy-three miles ; total, one hundred and
thirty miles in eight days. .This would have been
excellent marching over good roads, but through the
country of our route it Avas a shameful mismanage
ment, and reflected but little credit upon all concerned
in the movement. The excuse Avas that our 2;uides
had misled the commanding officer, being themselves
ignorant of the scarcity of Avater, and of the very road
which we traveled. We marched in the middle of
the day, Avith a burning sun overhead, and burning
sand beneath our feet ; not a drop of rain had fallen
in this section of the country for months, and the
dust raised by the tramp of so many men hung over
our heads with a smothering denseness from which
there was no escape. When we reached a pond, Avhich
was nothing but a hog-walloAV, men and horses rushed
pell-mell frantically into it, all semblance of rank and
organization forgotten and disregarded.
At noon of the third day we reached a pond, in

31 A RYLAND VOLUNTEER. 63
the water of which large numbers of cattle Avere
standing to escape the heat of the noon-day' and the
SAvarm of flies which annoyed thera. For how many
days these cattle had stood in this water we knoAV
not; but very few of us Avho drank it kept it down
after it Avas SAvallowed, and the taste of that water
was remerabered for a long time with nausea and dis
gust. On this day's march I fell in the road utterly
broken down, and I saAv men toward night frantically
digging Avith their bayonets in the dry bed of a Avater-
course, in the vain hope of finding water beneath the
surface, but allAvas as dry as the arid country around.
For miles our command Avas straggling along, day
after day, sorae reaching carap long after nightfall,
inA'iting attack by their looseness of array, and scorn
ing the commands of superior officers, through the
utter demoralization Avhich prevailed. Curses and
imprecations loud and deep Avere heard, ani a vindic
tiveness Avas manifested, rarely I expect ever shoAvn
by American troops. I saw raen fall down in convul
sions on this raarch, frothing at tlieir mouths, clutch
ing the sand Avith their hands, and left to lie until
nature and the shadows of night restored them to
consciousness and strength. Kentuckians, Ohio men,
and Baltimoreans, Avere all mixed together; the
strongest and best walkers pressing to the front, the
weak and the Aveary lagging behind. No Avord of
encouragement, none of command, was heard, perhaps
none Avas needed, for all who were able to march
could be found at the tanks, and to reach the river was
the leading, the only, object of that brigade on its
memorable march to Camargo.

64 3IE3IOIRS OF A
August 24. We found here, upon our arrival yes
terday, the two companies of our battalion which had
escaped the march by coming up the river on a steam
boat. Our sick, camp and garrison equipage, and my
serA'ant, were awaiting us, and after getting my com
pany into some sort of comfort, I walked into
Camargo to take a look around me. I found it a
much raore Spanish-looking toAvn than Matamoras,
judging from pictures I had seen of Spanish towns.
It Avas, to use the expression of one of my men I
found Avandering through the streets, a rocky-looking
place. It has of course a plaza, and a rather dilapi
dated cathedral church. It boasted once of having
two thousand inhabitants; noAV I am sure there are
not more than one thousand, with nearly an equal
number of dogs and chicken-cocks. The houses are
loAV hea\'y stone buildings, with flat roofs, and, having
been completely inundated last June by an overflow
of the San Juan, the appearance of the toAvn Avas not
clean or attractive. It is the residence of General
Can ales, a laAvyer by profession, and somewhat noted
as a partisan leader. I found that he was very popu
lar here, and when he left, Avhich he did on the ap
proach of our troops, he carried with him a consider
able nuraber of its fighting population.*
I found General Taylor here with his head
quarters, and an army of regulars and volunteers, in
cluding several regiments of Texans. The main
plaza is the camp of a regiment, and all the larger
*I have read in a book, since the war, that the arrival of our
troops was welcomed by the inhabitants of Camargo, as a relief
from the tyranny of Canales ; this is not the fact.

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 65
houses are filled Avith quartermaster and commissary
stores. Everything and everybody is busy and bust
ling, and the excitement of an advance and an
approaching battle is increasing hourly. General
Worth, Avith a couple of regiments, has gone to Mier,
forty miles off; General Smith left this morning, and
Randolph Ridgely told me that he expects to march
Avith his battery this Aveek. Having seen and heard
enough for one day, I returned to camp, the fatigues
of the past week already forgotten in the enthusiasm
engendered by the martial scenes I had witnessed.
August 26. I suppose it ahvays has been so in all
armies, ancient and modern, it certainly is so in the
•' army of occupation," that a vast quantity of
rumors are flvina; around. In the absence of ncAvs-
papers, soldiers in the field are very fond of gossip,
and that gossip is confined to the narrow liraits of the
next march, or the plan of carapaign. Frora morning
till night, this is the talk.
The weather ceased to be a topic of conA^ersation
from the hour of our arrival on the Brazos, and now,
from the next to the highest in rank doAvn to the
enlisted man, at all hours of the day and night you
may hear a thousand rumors, but all tending to the
same point, or in the sarae direction. No one can tell
from whence they come; the hardiest has not dared to
say General Taylor said so and so, but rumor says
Ave are going to Monterey. And where that is, and
hoAV Ave are going to get there, rumor, as yet, knoweth
not. The Mexicans Avith whora I have talked say
the sarae thing; they have their rumors, Avhich
point in the same direction ; they say that their army

66 ME 3101 RS OF A
has retired to Monterey, and that it will fight us
there, mucho fandango, at Monterey. So I have con
cluded that Ave are going to Monterey, Avherever that
may be, and that we will fight a battle there ; feel
ing ashamed, hoAvever, that I didn't know where it
was, — for I used to be a little vain of my knowledge of
geography, — but of a town called Monterey, this side
of the one thus named on the California coast of the
Pacific Ocean, I Avas as ignorant as a heathen. Not
having seen an American newspaper for more than
a month, and not having the acquaintance of an army
correspondent, I fed upon rumors, satisfied with that
pabulum, and an innate soldierly contentment in the
discharge of my own duties.
August 30. I have learned by experience the truth
of a famous saying Avhich Shakspeare makes one of
his characters use, " Uneasy lies the head that wears
a crown." I have never been a king, but the symbol
of authority, Avhether it be a crown or the shoulder-
straps of a Captain of volunteers, carries with it so
much unrest and anxiety that it is strange men will
seek such trappings. It has been a very trying tirae
the past few days. Orders were received that our
battalion would be mustered to-morrow for payment,
and that each Captain should have prepared and ready
for that day four full rolls containing the names of all
the members of his corapany, present and absent,
where mustered, when mustered, when last paid, the
amount of clothing each man had received, the value
of the equipments, arms, and accoutrements received
by each, the amount due the sutler, and a recapitula
tion showing the number present for duty, those that

31A RYLAND VOLUNTEER. 67
were present sick, those that were absent sick, those on
extra duty, those in arrest or confinement, those on
detached service, tho,se absent without leave, the num
ber joined by transfer, the number joined from deser
tion, the number discharged by expiration of service,
or for disability, the nuraber that had deserted, the
number that had died, etc., etc. I looked at the blank
forms, and ray military enthusiasm Avas oozing per
ceptibly through my pores. No help for it; the work
had to be done. So, selecting sorae half-dozen of the
best clerks in my company, I went at it. We labored
hard, for no one officer or soldier in the command had
ever had anj'thing of the kind to do before. Labor
as Ave did, however, I could not make my account bal
ance, — that is the only Avay to express it; in other Avords,
I could not make this roll correspond Avith the original
one made at Washington on the Sth of June, Avhen
we Avere mustered into the army, by reason of the
numerous changes which had taken place since that
time. Finally the mustering-officer came along, and
I told him my difficulties. Though an entire stranger,
he sat down alongside of us and kindly assisted and
e.xplained, until I grasped what was before me, and
was enabled to complete satisfactorily my rolls. To
First Lieutenant William A. Nichols, of the Second
Regiment of Artillery, United States Army, I OAve
my thanks for his courtesy, and gratitude for his
instruction. August 31. This day, looked forward to by me
with as much apprehension, if not more, than if Ave
were going to fight a battle, Avas the day of muster,
and all the troops here were mustered for payment.

68 MEMOIRS OF A
Thanks to Lieutenant Nichols my rolls were nearly
correct, and I had but little trouble in getting them
accepted after the parade. As before said, each com
manding officer of a company had to prepare four rolls.
Of these four, one is sent direct to the Adjutant-Gen
eral of the United States Army at Washington, by
Avhich means the Government is informed of the num
bers present and absent of its armies in the field ; two
are given to the paymaster, Avho calculates the pay
due each soldier, and the amount is placed against the
name of the soldier upon each roll, and signed by the
soldier at the time of payment. One copy of the rolls
is retained by the company commander, as a basis for
his roll at the ne.xt rauster. By these means the con
dition of an army is verified, and all changes occurring
are noted upon each successive muster, until the final
one at the end of the term of service, Avhen every
man borne upon the original muster-in roll must be
accounted for. If a Captain can only prepare his first
rolls correctly, he will have but little thereafter to
trouble hira. A mistake in this, however, leads to
successive and increasing blunders. It doesnot follow
that troops are imraediately paid after these musters
for payment, and we were not; but, our company rolls
being in, the Captains were free from the responsi
bility of delay.
None other than a man who has been the Captain
of a volunteer company can appreciate this feeling of
responsibility. In the regular army, there is not the
same closeness of relation between the enlisted man
and his Captain, for he has been assigned to the com
mand and may be transferred at any time ; but iu the

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 69
volunteer service, the men have been, generally speak
ing, enlisted by the Captain, and to him alone they
look for their pay. Without pay, a soldier is one of
the most disagreeable beings on earth, and Avithout pay,
soldiers are not easily commanded. As a general rule,
no araount of pay Avill make men take up arms in a
cause for Avhich they have no sympathy; at the same
time experience has demonstrated that, Avithout pay,
soldiers won't fight — saints would not do it, if they
Avere soldiers.
My troubles for the day were not yet over, for, being
in hourly expectation of orders to march, the sick of
my company gave rae great concern. Two months in
this cliraate, and tAvo such raarches as those from
Burita* to Matamoras, and from thence to Camargo,
had frightfully depleted, the strength of the volunteer
regiments. In ray own corapany eighteen men Avere
on their backs, unmistakably not fit for the field, and
Avhat to do with thera was the question now uppermost
in my raind. I went to see Colonel Watson, and gave
him a faithful account of the condition of our sick.
The raatter Avas so grave that he went at once to
head-quarters and had an intervicAv with General
Taylor, Avhich resulted in an order being issued that
such of the sick as Avere thought unfit by the surgeon
to march should be left in the general hospital at
Camarso. I left eis'hteen. of Avhom the foUoAving
were discharged on surgeon's certificate of disability
* The Countess de Burita was the heroine of the first defence
of Saragossa, when besieged, in 1808, by the French, under
General Lefebvre Desnouettes. I presume this town was named
in her honor.

70 31 E 310 IRS OF A
as soon as they were examined : Corporal James Tib
bies ; Privates John"F. Alexander, James B. Canning,
Jacob Degomp, Francis Fisher, George Gordon, Barney
Hawkins, Charles Johnson, David Johnson, Samuel
Lockhart, William Macready, Josiah Pregg, James
Peregoy, Ernest Tressel, and William C. Wilson ;
the proportion of sick in the other companies of the
battalion being about the same, while in some other
regiraents it Avas much larger. In the First Tennessee
a large number died, and the general opinion was that
we Avere in a very unhealthy camp. No one can tell
Avhence the name came, but already in speaking of
Camargo the raen would invariably call it the grave
yard. Captain W. S. Henry, of the United States
Army, in writing from here at this tirae, says: " The
volunteers continue to arrive. They have suffered a
great deal at their encampment at the mouth of the
river, and at the Brazos Santiago, that barren and
sandy island Avhere the sand drifts in clouds. Diar
rhoea, dysentery, and fevers, have been very fiital.
Discharges are numerous, and the great majority are
pretty Avell disgusted with the service. My only sur
prise is that people ,so suddenly transported from a
high to a low latitude in the midst of summer should
have so fcAV cases of disease. They may consider
themselves very fortunate."

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 7I

CHAPTER IV.
CAMARGO.
September 1, 1846. At Camargo.
To comprehend this campaign of tbe Rio Grande it
will be necessary to go back a few Aveeks, in order to
learn Avhat Avere the plans, if any, Avhich the Govern
ment had formed for the prosecution of the war.
Major-General Winfield Scott, the eminent soldier,
was the commanding general of the army of the
United States, but he had Avritten himself into dis
favor Avith botli the President and the Secretary of
War, the Hon. William L. Marcy. General Scott's
views had no controlling influence upon the campaign,
and for the present Ave must leave hira Avhere I am
inclined to think he preferred being left, a watchful
observer of the course of events and the conduct of
the Avar. His reputation as a general officer Avas
well established, that of Taylor's comparatively un
known, — certainly far below that of Scott's; for as yet
the laurels gathered at Palo Alto and Resaca had been
ascribed raore to the steady gallantry of the "regu
lars" than to the railitary capacity of Taylor.
The Government propounded this question to Gen
eral Taylor, " Shall the carapaign be conducted Avith
the view of striking at the city of Mexico, or confined,
so far as regards the forces under your immediate

72 MEMOIRS OF A
ct)mmand, to the northern provinces of Mexico ?"* On
the 2d of July the general answered " That it was his
intention of moving with a column of six thousand
men upon an experimental expedition as far as Mont
erey. He considered that six thousand men was the
maximum force which could be employed on the ex
pedition, having regard to their subsistence and the
resources of the country in pack-mules and transpor
tation generally. That from Camargo to the city of
Mexico Avas a line little short of one thousand miles
in length ; the resources of the country, to say the
best, not superabundant, and over long spaces of the
route Avere known to be deficient. That the road as
Ave advanced south approached both seas, yet the topo
graphy of the country and the consequent character of
the communications forbid the taking up a ncAv line
of supply from Tampico or the Pacific coast;" and con
cluded by saying, " Except in the case, deemed improb
able, of the entire acquiescence, if not support, on the
part of the Mexican people, I consider it impracti
cable to keep open so long a line of communication. It
is therefore my opinion that our operations from this
frontier should not look to the city of Mexico, but
should be confined to cutting off the northern prov
inces, — an undertaking of comparative facility and
assurance of success."
On the 9th of July Mr. Marcy Avrote to General
Taylor as follows : " If, from all the inforraation Avhich
you may communicate to the Departraent, as well as
* Letter from Hon. W. L. Marcy, Secretary of War, to Gen
eral Taylor, dated War Department, Washington, June 8, 1846.

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 73
that derived from other sources, it should appear that
the difficulties and obstacles to the conducting of a
campaign from the Rio Grande, the present base of
your operations, for any considerable distance into
the interior of Mexico, will be very great, the Depart
ment Avill consider whether the main invasion .should
not ultimately take place from some other point on
the coast, say Tampico or sorae other point in the
vicinity of Vera Cruz. This suggestion is made with
a vicAv to call your attention to it, and to obtain from
you such information as you may be able to impart.
Should it be determined that the main army should
invade Mexico at some other point than the Rio
Grande, — say in the A^icinity of Vera Cruz, — a large
and sufficient number of transport vessels could be
placed at the mouth of the Rio Grande by the time
the healthy season sets in, — say early in November.
The main army, Avith all its munitions, could be trans
ported, leaving a sufficient force behind to hold and
occupy the Rio Grande and all the toAvns and provin
ces Avhich you may haA^e conquered before that tirae.
In the event of such being the plan of operations,
your opinion is desired Avhat increased force, if any,
will be required to carry it out with success. We learn
that the army could be disembarked a fcAV miles dis
tant from Vera Cruz, and readily invest the toAvn in its
rear, AA'ithout coraing Avithin range of the guns of the
fortress of San Juan d'Ulloa. The town could be
readily taken by land, Avhile the fortress, being in
vested by land and sea, and all coramunication cut
off, must soon fall. Frora Vera Cruz to the city of
Mexico there is a fine road, upon Avhich the diligences

74 3IE3IOIRS OF A
or stage-coaches run daily. The distance from Vera
Cruz to the city of Mexico is not raore than one-third
of that from the Rio Grande to the city of Mexico.
Upon these important points, in addition to those
mentioned in my letter of the Sth of June, your opin
ions and views are desired at the earliest period your
duties Avill permit you to give them. In the mean time,
the Department confidently relies on you to press for
ward your operations vigorously, to the extent of your
means, so as to occupy the important points within
your reach on the Rio Grande and in the interior."
To this. General Taylor replied on the 1st of
August, frora Matamoras : "As to the railitary opera
tions best calculated to secure an early and honor
able peace, ray report of the 2nd of July Avill have
put the Department in possession of my views touch
ing operations in this quarter, and I have now littie
to add to that report. Whether a large force can be
subsisted beyond Monterey raust be determined by
actual experiment, and AAdll depend much upon the
disposition of the enemy toward us. If a column
(say ten thousand men) can be sustained in provi
sions at Saltillo, it may advance thence upon San
Luis Potosi, and, I doubt not, Avould speedily bring
proposals for peace. If, on the other hand, a column
cannot be sustained beyond Monterey, it Avill be for
the Governraent to determine, from considerations of
state, Avhether a simple occupation of the frontier
departments (including Chihuahua and NeAv Mexico),
or, in addition to such occupation, an expedition
against the capital by Avay of Vera Cruz, Avould be
most expedient. I cannot give a positive opinion as

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 75
to the practicability of an expedition against Vera
Cruz, or the amount of force that would probably be
required for it. The Department of War must be
much better informed than I ara on that point. From
the impracticable character of the routes from Tam
pico, particularly that leading to Mexico, I should
judge an expedition against the capital from that
point to be out of the question. The simultaneous
embarkation of a large body of troops at Brazos San
tiago, as proposed in the Secretary's communication,
Avould be attended with great difficulty, if we may
judge frora the delays and danger Avhich accompany
the unloading of single transports, owing to the alraost
perpetual roughness of the bar and boisterous charac
ter of the anchorage. It raay also Avell be questioned
Avhether a force of volunteers, Avithout rauch instruc
tion (more than those now here can receive in season
for such an expedition), can prudently be alloAved to
form the bulk of an army for so delicate an operation
as a descent upon a foreign coast, Avhere it can have
no proper base of operations or supplies."
jFrom the above correspondence it Avill be perceived
that the War Department, Avhilst making inquiries
of General Taylor, gave him no positive instructions,
except that he should press forward his operations
vigorously, so as to occupy the important points within
his reach on the Rio Grande and in the interior, given
to hira by Secretary Marcy in his letter of the 9th
of July; while as early as the 2nd of the same
raonth General Taylor had informed the War Depart
ment that it was his intention of moving with a
column of six thousand men upon Monterey.

76 MEMOIRS OF A
We were noAv, at the 1st day of September, 1846,
at Camargo, and General Taylor was ready to move
forAvard. These Avere his arrangements : the regular
troops of the army were organized into two divisions;
the first, under the command of General Twiggs, con
sisted of the Second Dragoons, the First, Second,
Third, and Fourth Regiments of Infantry, and Bragg's
and Ridgely's Batteries ; the Second, under General
Worth, of the Artillery Battalion, the Fifth, Seventh,
and Eighth Regiments of Infantry, Duncannon's Bat
tery, and Captain Blanchard's company of Louisiana
volunteers. Of the tAvelve months' volunteers that
were to form part of the column, they were organized
into a field division under the command of Major-
General Butler, of Kentucky, Avith Brigadiers-General
Hamer, of Ohio, and Quitman, of Mississippi (the latter
was born in the State of New York) . A large number
— about six thousand — twelve months' men were to be
distributed at Caraargo and the several posts on the
river Avhich it was deemed necessary to hold. The fol-
loAving paragraph of "Orders No. 108" expresses a great
deal: "The limited means of transportation, and tJie
uncertainty in regard to the supplies that raay be
drawn frora the theatre of operations, imposes upon
the commanding general the necessity of taking into
the field, in the first instance, only a moderate portion
of the volunteer force now under his orders."
Of the force thus to be left, the whole was to be
under the command of Major-General Robert Patter
son, of Pennsylvania.
In the course of the preceding Aveek and since our
arrival here, the Baltimore Battalion had been bri-

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 77
gaded in three several coraraands, but on this day Ave
had the honor, owing to the personal efforts of Colonel
Watson, of being attached to General Twiggs' (First)
Division of Regulars, and brigaded in the Fourth
Brigade with the First Regiment of Infantry, under
the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Wilson, of
the United States Army. I Avas delighted.
The Baltimore Battalion, as it was generally called
(without any disrespect to our friends and corarades
of the tAvo Washington companies), Avas dressed in the
regular blue uniform and equipments of the regular
troops of the line of the array, and Avas the only
command of volunteers thus equipped that I am aAvare
of, at this time. Its character Avas that of being dis
orderly and riotous, Avhich reputation it had brought
from Washington, and had been added to on the Brazos,
at Camp Belknap, and at Mataraoras; but I say as a
soldier that its behavior Avas as orderly, and that it
Avas raore obedient and its appearance raore soldier
like, than that of any volunteers I have seen in the
country. The reason why, frequently, its conduct Avas
considered disorderly, was owing to the facts that
nearly every man in it Avas from the cities of Wash
ington and Baltimore, many of whom had been sailors,
others members of fire-companies, fishing-clubs, etc.,
and they were a wild, frolicksome, reckless set, full of
fun and hard to keep in camp. They were forever
wandering about, and frequently carae into collision
with volunteers from other States, who, being mostly
from the rural districts, had some curious-looking
uniforms and hats, and Avould not understand the
character or take the fun of these city felloAvs, particu-

78 3IEM0IRS OF A
larly as they Avere dressed in army uniforms. This
assignment of the battalion to a brigade of regulars
was regarded as a great feather in our caps.
The field division of volunteers under the command
of General Butler consisted of the First Mississippi,
Colonel Jefferson Davis ; the First Tennessee, Colonel
William B. Carapbell ; the First Ohio, Colonel Alex
ander M. Mitchell; and the First Kentucky, Colonel
Stephen Ormsby : regiments of volunteers. Tvvo regi
ments of Texan cavalry under Colonel James Pink-
ney Henderson completed the force of the column.
Before Ave left Camargo, and on this 1st day of Sep
tember, under the authority of the Act of Congress
and instructions from the headquarters of the army,
an election Avas held in the several companies of our
battalion for an additional second lieutenant. In
my company it resulted in the choice of Orderly
Sergeant William E Aisquith,* of the city of Balti
more, and he Avas subsequently duly commissioned.
He Avas my choice, and the Avhole subject is Avorthy
of a few reflections. Perhaps in the history of the
* On the afternoon before I left Baltimore with my company,
Mr. Robert M. McLane came to the rendezvous and asked me to
do him a favor b}' accepting Aisquith as a volunteer, and giving
him a place as one of my oSicers ; which I declined to do, as I
had already determined who were to be my Lieutenants ; but
after he told me that Aisquith was the son of Captain Aisquith,
who at the battle of North Point, in command of a company of
sharpshooters, had rendered efficient service and behaved with
much gallantry, and that he was a graduate of the United States
Military Academy at West Point, I replied, that I would give
him the place of Orderly Sergeant of my company, and give
him a chance for promotion ; and this I did.

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 79
whole Avorld, and of its armies, no such spectacle had
ever been seen before as the right of suffrage or vote
by ballot being giA-en to the soldiers of an organized
army in the field, for the selection of their officers.
It raust be borne in raind that, by the militia laAvs of
scA'eral States of the Union, the corapany officers were
selected by the men, and in sorae of the States the
field officers were likcAvise thus elected. It was so I
am sure in Maryland, that corapany officers were
thus elected ; and inasrauch as the Act of Congress
Avhich authorized the Governraent to accept twelve
months' volunteers, provided that the company offi
cers should be commissioned by the Governors of the
respectiA^e States from which they were accepted, it
followed that the additional lieutenant allowed to
each company should be elected and commissioned
as had been the others from the same State. If I had
been asked at the time I raised my company whether
I would have perraitted the men to select their offi
cers, I should have given up its command before I
Avould have consented to it; but now, after two
months' arduous and active field service, I believed
the men would select the most competent and trusty
of their number ; and, as far as our battalion was con
cerned, they generally did so. In my oAvn company
it was emphatically so ; for although the opponent of
Sergeant Aisquith was a well-drilled soldier, of very
pleasing address, generous and popular, he received
but six out of the sixty-seven votes cast. True it is
that my influence aided Mr. Aisquith, but the large
vote he received was due to the consciousness Avhich
the men now had that playing soldiers at home and

80 MEMOIRS OF A
practicing it here were two very different things, and
that their lives and their comforts would mainly de
pend upon the skill and discretion of their officers.

CHAPTER V.
CAMPAIGN OF THE RIO GRANDE.
On the afternoon of September the 1st we bade
farewell to the sickly environs of Camargo, crossed
the San Juan River, and encamped with the First
Regiment of Infantry, under orders to march to
Seralvo, some seventy miles distant. In lieu of
Avagons for the transportation of our baggage, eight
mules on an average were given to each company ;
the orders being, to every eight men a mule, and one
to the company officers. All the wheel-transporta
tion which General Taylor had at his disposal was
being used to carry supplies of all kinds forward to
Seralvo, which Avas established as an entrepot, and at
which a portion of General Worth's division was al
ready posted for its protection. No doubt was now
entertained by any one that heavy work was before
us ; and the tread of the courageous, and the step of
the faint-hearted, were as marked and as different as
day from night.
September 2. The larger portion of this day was
spent in getting our baggage packed upon the backs

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. gl
of the mules that were driven into our carap for this
purpose. Their appearance created a profound sensa
tion, and the laughter Avith which they Avere received
and appropriated by the various squads rang loud
and joyously through the valley of the San Juan.
If there be any one thing Avhich requires patience,
good humor, and skill, it is to properly load a mule
so as not to put too rauch weight upon hira, and that
that Avhich is put shall be equally balanced on either
side, and carefully fastened to the pack-saddle. It
amounts to an art.
I Avatched the process daily Avith great interest, and
each day adraired raore and raore the good qualities
of the Mexican arrieros or muleteers. You have but
to knoAV that tents, tent-poles, kettles, mess-pans,
axes, picks, coffee-mills, boxes of araraunition, etc.,
were to be daily put on and off a raule's back, to be
carried safely over hill and dale, through thicket and
through flowing water for miles and miles of toilsome
march, to appreciate the knoAvledge requisite to do
the work well. It icas well done, and I learned to
have affection for the mule and its keeper, despite the
many annoyances incidental to this species of army
transportation. From the very first, our men took
kindly to the muleteers, and to the end of the march
the utmost harmony and good will existed between
them. It may seem strange to say that, notwith
standing they knew not a word of each other's lan
guage, they understood each other ; but I have seen
them talking together and laughing heartily over the
subject of conversation. Owing to the delay in get
ting ready, it was nearly nightfall when we had
6

g2 MEMOIRS OF A
marched three or four miles, so we halted and biv
ouacked for the night.
On the od, Ave marched fourteen miles, crossing the
Arroyo Salado ; on the 4th passed the picturesque-
looking town of Mier, rendered famous by the des
perate battle fought here four years ago between the
Texans and Mexicans. On the 5th reached the
Alamo* River, a swift running stream, Avhose name
was fresh in the memory of the Texans, and gave
fierceness to their Avell-known battle cry, " Remember
the Alamo!" and on the 6th reached Puntiaguda, dis
tant fifty-five miles from Caraargo. Here Ave halted
for the raain body of the troops to join us.
We had left the State of Tamaulipas, whose eastern
boundary is the Rio Grande and Gulf of Mexico, and
had entered the State of Nuevo Leon. The appear
ance of the country was very different from AA'hat we
had ill a measure become familiar with ; instead of
the sands, the cactus, the unwholesome water and
enfeebling atmosphere, we were in a well cultivated
country, with clear running streams, and gardens
and fields blooming with the fig and the pomegranate.
The air was delightful, and the sweet water of running
mountain brooks Avas delicious to the palate, which
for two months had been nauseated Avith the muddy
fluid of tbe Rio Grande. The roads over which we
had marched were good, and the manner and order of
the march were grateful to men who had been driven
in confusion through the lagoons and the mire, over
sandy deserts and burning plains, from the Gulf to
* Tbe town of Mier is on the banks of this river.

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 83
the banks of the San Juan. I was beginning to learn
my profession, not the least of whose requirements is
the knowledge of the proper way to march troops, and
Avas learning in the only mode by Avhich it could be
acquired. A very raarked change was perceptible in
our ranks ; Ave were being instructed in guard-mount
ing, picket- and outpost-duty, by those Avho were
competent to teach, and as we approached the vicinity
of the enemy the martial spirit of the men reviA^ed.
Our health and strength Avere being regained in this
salubrious climate, and the novelty of the eA'er-vary-
ing scenery through which we passed cheered and
brightened the countenances of all.
I Avas much pleased Avith this little village of four
hundred inhabitants, through whose streets the head-
Avaters of the Alamo Avere rushing over their rocky
bed to join and mingle with the torrent of the Bravo
del Norte.
On the 7th, General Taylor came up with the main
body, and after resting for two days, we all marched
on the 9th to Seralvo, distant fifteen miles, which Ave
reached the same night. Here Ave found General
Worth's division ; and the army of occupation Avas
concentrated to take breath, fill cartridge-boxes and
haversacks, and then to march to Monterey.
During our halt at Puntiaguda, Avord was brought
from General Worth that a large force of cavalry
was in his vicinity ; and while I Avas gazing in awe
and in silence at the Avonderful phenomenon of a
lunar rainbow I Avas startled with the drums beating
an alarm. We Avere held in readiness to move to the
support of Worth, but the affair which caused this

84 31EM0IRS OF A
first stampede* proved to be but a fight on that day
betAveen Captain McCullough's company of Texan
Ranaers and a portion of General Canales's cavalry.
It was deemed advisable, however, to proceed with
caution, and we aAvaited the arrival of General Tay
lor, Avhen Ave moved forward Avith his troops, Camp
rumor, after vacillating and fluctuatins between the
thousand-and-one stories heard daily and hourly since
Ave had left the San Juan, Avas now settled and
unanimous that fight we must at Monterey. I had
become satisfied of this from the information given
to me by the muleteers, one of whom told rae he
knevj that they were fortifying the town, and General
Ampudia had marched into it with a large army. I
could not disbelieve the positive statements of this
man ; his truthfulness Avas stamped on every linea
ment of his honest countenance.
This town of Seralvo is one of considerable size and
importance, beautifully situated in a valley sur
rounded by mountains, and in the centre of a highly
cultivated rich and productive country. A tributary
to the Alamo flows through it, which supplies water
to the inhabitants, and, by means of ditches, to the
gardens which surround every house in the toAvn, and
Avhich are by it kept in perennial verdure and bloom.
Several handsome bridges cross this clear bold stream
in different parts of the town, and on its banks the
lemon, the orange, and the grand pecan, invite, by
their beauty and foliage, the ladies of Seralvo to the
* This word means everything from a downright running
away to a merely being hurried or startled without flight.

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 85
luxury of their shade. We found plenty of fruit
here, and enjoyed the fig, the peach, and the pome
granate, fresh plucked from the tree, and that deli
cious drink, limonada, raade from limes t.aken by
my.self from the branches upon which they had grown.
It is not only by fixr the most attractive, clean, and
picturesque town I have yet seen in Mexico, but the
refreshing coolness of its thick-walled dwellings Avas
the constant theme of those Avho had been so long ex
posed to the heat of the sun. They not only afforded
shade, but there was an indescribable atmosphere
Avithin their Avails Avhich gave a sense of pleasure and
repose to the Aveary and foot-sore officer fortunate
enou"'h to find this rest. In the far distance the
lofty Sierras, overlooking the valley of Monterey,
loom up grandly on the western horizon, and the bare
cliffs to the north indicate Avhere the once celebrated
silver mines of Seralvo Avere Avorked for the coiu[uer-
ing Spaniard, by the helpless natives. It is with its
surroundings a beautiful country, and for the few
days that we AA'^ere here nothing Avhatever occurred
to disturb the friendly relations Avhich existed or
seemed to exist between the people and our army.
Fandangos, monte, limonada, Avith a dash now and
then of vino de Parras, made our halt pass swiftly
and pleasantly, so that Avhen the bugles sang truce,
and the reveille Avas followed bA^ the gcenerale on the
raorning of the 13th of September, Ave marched from
Seralvo with regret, and the first pleasant memory of
Mexico had effected a lodgment in our breasts. The
folloAving Avere our orders :

86 ME310IRS OF A

'- Headqdarter.s, Army of Occupation,
"Seralvo, September 11, 181G.
" Orders No. 115.]
" I. As the army may expect to meet resistance in the further
advance towards Monterey, it is necessary that the march should
be conducted with all proper precaution to meet attack aud to
secure the baggage and supplies. From this point the following
will be the order of the raarch until otherwise directed.
" II. All the pioneers of the army, consolidated into one piirty,
will march early to-morrow on the route to Marin, for the pur
pose of repairing the road and rendering it practicable for artil
lery and wagons. The pioneers of each division will be under a
subaltern, to be especially detailed for the duty ; and the whole
will be under the command of Captain Craig, Third Irjfantry, who
will report at headquarters fov instructions. This pioneer party
will be covered by a squadron of dragoons and Captain McCul-
loch's company of rangers. Two ofiicers of topographical engi
neers, to be detailed by Captain Williams, will accompany the
party for the purpose of examining the route. Two wagons will
be provided by the quartermaster's department for the transpor
tation of the tools, provisions, and knapsacks of the pioneer party.
"III. The First Division will march on the 1.3th inst., to be fol
lowed on successive days by the Second Division and the Field
Division of Volunteers. The headquarters will march with the
First Division. Captain Gillespie with half of his company will
report to Major-General Butler ; the other half, under tbe First
Lieutenant, to Brigadier-General Worth. These detachments
will be employed for outposts and videttes, and as expresses be
tween the columns and headquarters.
"IV. The subsistence supplies will be divided among the three
columns, the senior commissary of each division receipting for the
stores and being charged with their care aud management. Tbe
senior commissaries of divisions will report to Captain Waggoner
for this duty.
" Y. Each division will be followed immediately by its baggage
train and supply train, with a strong rear-guard. The ordnance
train, under Captain Ramsay, will march with the Second Divi
sion, between its baggage and supply trains, and will come under

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. ^7
the protection of the guards of their division. The medical suj)-
plies will in like manner march with the first division.
" YI. The troops will take eight days' rations and forty rounds
of ammunition. All surplus arms and accoutrements resulting
from casualties on the road will be deposited with Lieutenant
Stewart, left in charge of the depot at this place, who will give
certificates of deposit to company coraraanders.
"YII. The wagons appropriated for the transportation of
water will not be required, and will be turned over to the quarter
master's department for general purposes.
"YIII. Two corapanies of the Mississippi regiraent will be
Jesigualed for the garrison of this depot. All sick and disabled
men unfit for the march will be left behind, under the charge of a
medical officer, to be selected for this duty by the medical directors.
" By order of Major-General Taylor,
"W. W. S. Bliss,
"A. A. G.''
HEADQtr.lRTERS, .\RMY OF OCCUPATION',
'¦Seralvo, September 12, 18il3.
''Orders No. 108.]
"I. Pursuant to orders of yesterday from headquarters, the
First Division will be ready to move at daylight to-iuorrow in
the following order:
" 1st. Dragoons.
" 2d. Ridgely's Battery.
" 3d. Third Brigade.
"4th. Fourth Brigade.
" 5th. The baggage trains, in the order designated for the
corps to which they belong.
" Gth. The medical supplies.
" 7tfa. Supply trains.
" Sth. Rear guard of two companies of infantry, to be furnished
by the brigades alternately, commencing with the Third.
" II. The dragoons and the artillery will be foraged, to include
tbe Fourteenth.
" III. The guards for tbe night will mount an hour before sun
set, and will consist of four companies of infantry, two from each
brigade, to be turned off by the brigade officer. Each brigade

88 3IE3IOIRS OF A
will, with its two companies for guard, furnish a captain of the
day detailed from this office, who will have the superintendence
of the whole and will report at these headquarters for orders
immediately before guard-mounting.
'' By order of Brigadier-General Twiggs,
"D. C. BUELL,
"A. A. A. G."
Information has been received Avhich places it be-
3'ond a doubt that General Ampudia marched into
Monterey on the 31st of August, and that a large
force is actively engaged fortifying the town. I took
a look at General Taylor as he passed us on horse
back Avhile Ave were marching to-day, and I was satis
fied that, Avhatever might be ahead of us, Ave Avould
go on until he gave the order to halt. Ampudia cer
tainly Avill haA'e to make battle if he expects to hold
Monterev, for so there General Tavlor Avill. This is
Avhat I thought.
We marched along steadily and compactly all day
a west-south-Avesterly course, keeping the mountains
on our right and making apparently for a gorge in
the sierra. Our division Avas in the advance, pre
ceded by the Texan cavalry and followed by Worth's
division and Butler's A'olunteer division. I was struck
with the elasticity of the spirits of the men, Avhich,
notwithstanding the Avithering heat of the sun, found
A^ent in song and laughter as they stepped solidly on
to the front. The victories at Palo Alto and Resaca
had giA'en a confidence to these men which Avas com
municated to the A'olunteers, and I could not but
reflect on the value that the prestige of success gave
to our raw troops, and the good policy Avhich guided
our being brigaded Avith the regulars.

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 89
We saAV but feAv people to-day, though the country
Avas filled Avith fields of cane and corn, inviting the
labor of the husbandman. We saw no cattle ; a few
frightened long-legged hogs scampered aAvay at our
approach, and CA^erything indicated, as forcibly as do
certain signs on the ocean, that a storm Avas brewing
ahead of us.
We marched to-day about fourteen miles, and Wa^-
ouacked on a deep and rapid stream Avhose name we
could not learn. To-night ruraor Avas rarapaiit
through our camps ; a courier had corae in from our
cavalry advance, from Colonel Henderson to General
Taylor, that four thousand of the eneray's cavalry
AA^ere in front of him, and that he Avanted assistance.
We had something to sleep on, and those Avho didn't
sleep, to talk about, until the reveille Avas beaten on
the morning of
September 14. We Avere up before light, and on
the march by daybreak. It Avas cold, and we raoved
briskly ; soon the sun lighted up the conical moun
tain peaks on our right, and the tops of the ridges,
Avith his glorious coloring, and the freshness of a neAV
day gave additional interest to the beautiful coun
try Ave Avere traversing. All Avas excitement, for
McCuUough had had a fight Avith the eneray this
raorning, and a wounded prisoner Avas sent to General
Taylor's headquarters for exaraination ; this Avas fact,
and not ruraor. so Ave hurried forward. We Avere
going too fast, for our mules could not keep pace Avith
the hasty tramp of the men, and it Avasn't good
management to let there be a gap between us and our
supplies, with cavalry in our front, and Avhy not on

90 MEMOIRS OF A
our flanks or rear ? We halted now every few miles,
and leisurely forded two streams which crossed our
line of march. This was the first day since ray land
ing on the Brazos in Avhich I had not suffered frora
the heat of the sun ; for two months and a half I had
been constantly exposed to its burning rays, and the
sense of cold experienced last night sent a chill through
my blood Avhich Avas exceedingly disagreeable. The
cool air from the slopes of the adjacent raountains,
and the elevation Ave are attaining, have rendered the
temperature so pleasant that Ave feel as if we could
march thirty miles a day Avith raore ease than twenty
loAver down the country. We have now approached
so close to the mountains on either side, as Ave near
the gorge at the head of the valley, that Ave can see
the foliage upon the trees Avhich coA'er them ; and I
regret to say that our road is becoming so rough and
stony that my feet are getting tender. So we go,
complaining of the sand because it Avas hot, and now
of the mountain-side because it is rocky ! We halted
after having marched fourteen miles, and bivouacked
with our lines drawn, to stand to our arms in military
array, whether it Avere necessary by night or by day
light. September 15. I Avas in charge of our advance
guard to-day, and, marching at the head of the column,
perfectly reveled in the enjoyment of the magnificent
scenery of the raountains and the A^alleys, and the
military enthusiasm Avith Avhich I Avas in a blaze.
All Avas beautiful that was in sight, the air sweet and
bracing, the sun comfortably Avarm, and the eneray
known to be but a feAV miles distant. I knew not

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. QI
Avhere our cavalry was, but I knew that our army
Avas behind me, and the enemy in front. I pushed
on, and, ascending a mountain over Avhicli our road
lay, Ave hastened to reach its crest, for we thought
that perhaps Ave might see the long-talked-of Lancers.
What a prospect burst upon our vicAv ! a valley lay
below us corapletely surrounded by mountains :
through this valley ran a river, making in its course
the graceful curve of Hogarth's line of beauty, and
nestling on its banks a town Avas lying, just being
lighted up by the sun's rays from OA'er the eastern
sierra. No famed valley of the Tyrol could be more
beautiful, no valley hamlet on the banks of the Sus
quehanna more at repose; it Avas the repose of death.
Gazing long upon this panorama, Avhich nature and
man had made so interesting, I was roused from my
reverie by hearing the sound of horses' feet rapidly
approaching frora the rear. One glance Avas suffi
cient, — it Avas General Taylor, his staff, and a sraall
escort of cavalry : dismounting, he approached and
did me the honor to recognize me by a pleasant
smile and an extended hand. He said that he re
membered our interview at Matamoras, and then
asked if I had anything to report : I replied that we
had not met, nor had Ave seen, a living being since Ave
had left camp at daybreak, and that not a creature
could be seen moving in the valley beloAV, nor in the
town at our feet, from which I inferred that the
enemy could not be far off. He said nothing for per
haps a rainute or two, looking steadily toward the
valley while thus silent, then suddenly said : "Captain,
move forward cautiotisly, and if you can, continue

92 3IE3IOIRS OF A
your raarch through that town" (pointing to it as he
spoke) " and halt on the other side until the column
gets up." My command Avas on the march irame
diately, silently descending the mountain-road, Avhich
we could soon discover led right through the toAvn of
Marin. I Avas the first, of course, to enter its main
street, and no man that ever entered a recently
deserted town Avill ever forget the effect it produced
upon him. We saw almost instantaneously — I might
say Ave felt — that the town was abandoned ; the men
huddled together, and pressed on me frora the rear
as if hurrying forward. Not a word Avas uttered. Our
trarap resounded from the house- Avails on either .=ide,
amid the quiet, the unnatural stillness, the sense of
danger. What is that? a dead man Avas lying in our
track, his feet in a doorAvay, his body stretched
toAvard the middle of the street, and a pool of blood
about where his head lay. I saw as we passed that
he Avas dead and had been recently slain, but when
or by Avhom, or for Avhat, Avho could tell? So Ave
passed on through the town, and — I can speak for
rayself — drew a long breath of relief Avhen AA-e got
into the open country; but there, sure enough, was
the eneray.
At the distance of about three-fourths of a raile, a
body of cavalry, with pennons fluttering on their
lances, were at halt, seeraingly (at least I thought
so) uncertain what to do. They had evidently passed
through the town ahead of rae, and irresolution was
apparent in their actions. Suddenly they resuraed
their raarch slowly, having seen, as I judged, the
head of our column making its appearance over the

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 93
mountain ; and it Avas so, for I soon heard the coming
up of our leading battalions.
Receiving no further orders, I reraained Avhere I
Avas for several hours, the array gradually getting up
to the toAvn : it was evident that soraething more th.an
ordinarv kept us in check; finally General Twiggs,
the commanding general of our division, Avith his
staff, rode through the town, and presently a staff-
officer carae from him Avith orders for me to folloAV
him, that the division Avas going into camp. This
Avas very unusual, as it Avas .not yet noon, and we had
marched but a few railes. The meadoAv selected for
our camp Avas a charming one on the banks of the
San Juan River (there are three or four riA^ers of this
narae in Northern Mexico — it is a sort of fancy narae
Avitli the Mexicans, this of Saint John), and here Ave
remained until the 18th, the army again being con
centrated, its different diA'isions refitted, and its
material of Avar replenished and carefully inspected.
We are uoav Avithin tAventy-five miles of Monterey,
and the rumors Avhicli are upon the lips of the entire
camp are not based as usual upon .guesses made by
the array gossips, but upon reports received directly
from the eneray's camp, and more or less reliable.
A large force is at Monterey preparing to hold it, and
dispute by battle our further advance into their coun
try. Nine thousand men, it is said, are in the city,
about one-third of Avhom are regular troops, the
other tAvo- thirds militia of the country, — perhaps —
why not ? — volunteers. The regulars are the reraains
of the army that fought on the Rio Grande, and my
opinion is, that men Avho fought as bravely as they

94 MEMOIRS OF A
did in a fair stand-up fight, Avithout breastworks, ex
posed to the destructive fire of our light artillery, will
make a stubborn fight behind Avorks which they have
had ample tirae to construct, mncho fandango, at
Monterey ! I confess that these words Avere con
tinually ringing in my ears, and likewise confess that
I hoped Ave would not be disappointed. We Avere
two thousand railes aAvay from home, but not a
thought or a Avish Avas backAvard ; en avant ! Avas the
individual and united sentiment of General Taylor's
entire army. There is no mistake about this.
We remained here all of the 16th and 17th days
of September. They Avere busy days ; yet, even amid
the bustle and excitement, the beauty and grandeur
of the scenery Avas the theme of general and Avide-
spread admiration.
September 18. The army moved this morning, the
three divisions following each other at intervals of an
hour's march, the First Division still in the advance.
We passed through the village of Agua Frio, and just
beyond it saw the eneray's cavalry ; it was doubtless
the sarae force Avhich had preceded us all the Avay
from Seralvo, and was said to be the cavalry of
General Torrejon. I had noticed that our arrieros
had changed their appearance and demeanor very
materially within the past two or three days. From
some knowledge of their language, I Avas enabled to
make myself understood by them and could gather
the purport of what they said, and was on pleasant
terms with the chief of those attached to our battal
ion. At first he was cheerful and communicative, but
since our halt at Marin was taciturn and gloomy.

31A RYLAND VOLUNTEER. 95
I Avas near hira when he caught a glimpse of his
countrymen, the cavalry of Torrejon, and upon my
soul I pitied him. He was very much alarmed ; and
AA'hat could I say to him by way of encouragement?
I Avas not surprised to hear during the day that a
number of these muleteers had made an effort to
escape, by leaving their mules and their cargoes to
shift for themseh'es, and taking to the chaparral ; but
Colonel Kinney, of Corpus Christi, who was the con
tractor, and chief of the nnde corps, headed them off
and brought them back to the care of their compan
ions in trouble, the patient, oppressed, but ever-faith
ful mules. We made eighteen railes to-day, and went
into camp upon the hacienda or farm of San Fran
cisco, seven miles frora Monterey.
September 19. We resumed our march this morn
ing at 8 o'clock, and Avere near the head of the
column Avhen, at about 10 o'clock, while Ave were
marching very rapidly, the heavy boom of a cannon
was heard reverberating Avith a thousand echoes
araong the raountains; presently another sullen roar
was heard, and then another. Every pulse fluttered,
and many a long breath drawn; we still hurried on :
a halt Avas ordered, and our astonishraent was great
Avhen we saw General Taylor aind staff slowly coun
termarching, and Paymaster Major Kirby, of Taylor's
staff, carrying in his hands a tAvelve-pound ball which
had been fired at the party and fallen near the feet
of the general. We also countermarched and en
camped in a wood about three miles from Monterey,
and raade preparations for the battle, which, no one
now questioned, was to be a deadly struggle.

96 3IE310IRS OF A
The Baltimore Battalion, after a long, Aveary, and
fatiguing march of a little upwards of three hundred
miles from the Brazos Santiago, was uoav in the pre,s-
ence of the eneray.
All day long the firing frora heavy guns continued,
Avith an occasional rattle of musketry. The Te.^an
Rangers were skirting the environs of the toAvn, and
engineer officers Avere already making reconnaissances;
against these the fire of the Mexicans Avas directed,
and as I watched their fire, and the movements of our
cavalry from the edge of the wood in Avhich our
troops lay, I thought that I had never before beheld
anything as interesting or attractive. We Avere just
out of the range of their guns, and large numbers of
the men gathered to Avitness the spectacle Avhich Avas
being exhibited upon the plain that extended from
our camp to the town. On our right Avas a large
stone citadel, upon the ramparts of Avhich guns Avere
mounted in barbette, and from Avhicli jets of flame
and smoke issued, soon folloAved by the heavy boom
of explosion. Immediately in front was the city, upon
a lofty toAver in Avhich the flag of Mexico Avas flying,
but its <;olors were undistinguishable at this distance.
On our left a large nuraber of mounted men were either
idly clustered in squdds, or else galloping to and fro
in reckless disregard of the cannon balls ricochettina;
over and araong them. Not a sound could be heard
from the town, not a creature could be seen, not a
single drift of sraoke to indicate that itAvas inhabited.
There it lay, its outline' clearly marked by lines of
earthworks, curtains and bastions— against the hazy
blue of the mountain-side in its rear. Volumes of

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 97
smoke Avere being carried frora above the citadel, and
shaped by a light wind into fantastic figures which
Avere repeated upon the earth's surface by the sun,
Avhich shone with resplendent power through all these
clouds of men and things, as if in mockery of their
littlene,ss. Noav a cheer would ring from the citadel
as a Avell aimed shot Avould produce some confusion
among the Texans ; then a yell from their side, in
defiance, Avould roll down to our hearing. The dis
charge of loaded fire-arms in our own camp, prepara
tory to inspection of arms, Avas mingled Avith the beat
of drums and bugle-callsof a well ordered force. Guards
Avere being marched to their posts, artillery horses
being led to Avater, staff-officers Avere galloping to and
fro, cook-fires being lighted, Avagons corralled, mules
unharnessed, and all the indescribable machinery of
an army on the eve of battle was in the hands of — mil
itary discipline. During the afternoon Ave pitched
our tents as leisurely, and Avent through the ordin4iry
routine of camp duty as quietly, as Ave did at Mata
moras, but at tattoo roll-call I thought that I noticed
an unusual degree of quiet and a clearer response as
each narae was called by the orderly sergeant upon
my corapany parade. It was a clear, cold night ; that
is, it was cool enough for the raen to desire to
approach the fire, which they did, and I noticed also
that they remained up later, and there Avere more of
them in a body, than usual. OtherAvise nothing indi
cated that before morning we might be on our Avay
to storm the town, as was pretty generally thought
would be the case.
September 20 — Sunday. It Avas late this morning
7

98 ME3I0IRS OF A
before the sunlight made its Avay into our camp Avhere
Ave had passed the night. I arose refreshed by a good
night's sleep, and ready for the duties of the day.
All Avas quiet until after breakfast, Avhen rumors
announced important movements at hand, and orders
Avere received to hold ourselves in readiness to march.
During the morning, I heard that General Worth's
Division would be ordered to turn the Avorks on the
Avest of the town, and Avas about marching. I
stepped over to its camp and saAv it leave ; the men
Avere in excellent spirits, and that division of regular
troops presented an appearance Avhich will never be
effaced frora my mind. It Avas thoroughly railitary
and soldierlike ; they looked so clean, their arras and
accoutreraents in such beautiful order, that all my
enthusiasm for soldiers Avas greatly gratified. The
artillery battalion especially attracted ray attention ;
the red-legged infantry (as they were called from the
broad red stripe running doAvn the seams of their
blue pantaloons) never on dress parade appeared to
better advantage. Duncan's battery of flying artil
lery looked superb; the guns were as polished as
those I had seen on Sunday's inspection at Fort
McHenry, Avhen Ringgold had brought this arm to the
A^alue noAV accorded it; and General Worth, the beau
ideal of a gallant soldier, rode at the head of the
column, as if conscious of the pride he had reason to
feel in commanding such a body of troops. Colonel
Jack Hayes's regiment of Texans, and McCullough's
and Gillespie's companies of Rangers, accompanied the
Division. Returning to my own camp, I ascended a tree which

31 A RYLAND VOLUNTEER. QQ
commanded a a'Icav of the city, and here I remained
for some hours, watching the movements of the
Texans, Avho, apparently without any orders, and
certainly without any semblance of organization. Avere
scouring over the plain, inviting the fire of the citadel,
Avhich ansAvered at interA'als by throwing a shot at
these daring men Avithout doing them any damage.
The toAvn still lay in its death-like repose; as yet not
a sound could be heard frora it. The only show of
resistance or of activity Avas at the fort, which Avas
called by us either the black fort, from the dark-look
ing stone of Avhicli it Avas constructed, or the <:itadel,
from its size and strength. At four o'clock in the
afternoon the long roll of the drums called the First
Division to arras, and Ave fell into ranks fully believ
ing that the hour had come for battle. We marched
out from camp into the plain, and found Butler's a^oI-
unteer division, Ridgely's and Bragg's batteries of
flying artillery, and Webster's regular battery of
tAventy-four-pound hoAvitzers, ready to moA^e Avith us.
General Taylor and staff Avere also there. We raarched
toward the city, halted Avithin a raile of its works, and
forraed line of battle ; not a shot fired, not a sound
heard save the Avord of coraraand. Even the black
fort was hushed, and the sun went doAvn behind the
lofty raountain ridge on our right, leaving us in an
amphitheatre of loveliness, and the peaks of the
Comanche Saddle Mountain on our left, tinged Avith
the gorgeous coloring of our oaami autumn evenings.
The town was directly in front of our line ; its
houses, its churches, its defenses, — all lying in the
stillness and beauty of that Sabbath evening; nothing

100 31E3IOIRS OF A
between us and its people but a few hundred yards
of open plain.
It was evident to all that this movement of ours
was in connection with Worth's; but Avhat that was,
or ours, a Captain of Infantry kneAV no more on this
field than if he Avere at home. Still standing to our
arms, night fell upon us, and with it a deluge of rain;
noAV commenced the ringing of church bells in the
toAvn, the barking of dogs, and the flashings to and
fro of lights, rockets, and alarms. Orders Avere passed
doAvn our ranks to maintain complete silence, Avith
perraission for the men to sit down in their places.
Suddenly the clangor of bugles and brass bands Avas
heard in the city, or emerging from it, and AA^e were
on our feet in the twinkling of an eye. It was pro
foundly dark, and the rain still fell in torrents; no
enemy came, but Ave heard in the stillness of the
night the hurried moveraents and activity in the
toAvn, — they had taken the alarm caused by the ap
proach of Worth from an unexpected quarter.
We remained here until between ten and eleven
o'clock, Avhen we marched back to carap, learning on
our Avay that a mortar battery had been constructed
by our troops Avhile we were lying in the plain ; and
that the howitzer battery had likewise been put in
position. Before the assault, let us take a look at the toAvn,
its garrison, and its defenses.

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. IQl

CHAPTER VL
MONTEREY.
Monterey, the capital of New Leon, a city of eight
to ten thousand inhabitants, would be considered a
handsorae town in any part of the world. The city
itself is built upon a plain on the northern side of a
sraall river called the San Juan, Avith a rivulet run
ning through it which empties into the San Juan to
the east of the town. The main road from the Rio
Grande to the city of Me.xico passes through Monterey,
then on by Avay of Saltillo and San Luis Potosi to the
capital. East, Avest, and south of the town, in close
proximity, spurs and ridges of the Sierra Madre moun
tains lirait the area of the plain, Avhich opens to the
north, and was the road by Avhich Ave approached it.
Just outside of the toAvn, on its north-west front or
angle, was what we called the black fort, — a square
AVork Avith dry ditches and embrasures for thirty-four
guns; there Avere but ten or twelve mounted, of various
sizes from fours to eighteens, but chieflv tAvelves.
Within the area of the walls Avas an unfinished cath
edral, Avhich rose to a considerable elevation above
the parapets, and Avas occupied by infantry as a strong
redoubt in support of the batteries en barbette.
General Ampudia had throAvn himself into the
toAvn about the 14th of August, AAdth about three
thousand troops of the line, and the number of the

102 ME310IRS OF A
troops had been daily increased by additions of regular
and irregular forces until he had ten thousand fighting
men of all arms under his command. With these men,
and reliefs of citizens, an elaborate system of Avorks
had been constructed for the defense of the toAvn.
From the citadel a stream of Avater ran in an easterly
course through the suburbs into the city, and Avhich
then emptied into the San Juan beyond the town on
the east, as I have before stated. Its banks Avere in
some places steep and deep ; irrigating ditches ex
tended from it to the north. This branch Avas crossed
near the middle of its course by a pretty stone bridge,
called La Purisiraa. There Avas a strong Avork, or
tele du pjont, on the south side of the bridge, and tAvo
long earth breastAvorks were on the southern bank
of this stream within the city ; on the east corner of
the town a redoubt named Fort Teneria, mounting
five guns — tAvo sixes, one nine-, one twelve-pound'^r,
¦and one howitzer, — connected by any nuraber of
ditches, hedges and barricades Avith the line of defense
of the streara; Avhile immediately in its rear, perhaps
a little .south-west of it, was another fort, called El
Diablo, Avith three guns, and still another Avith four
guns a little to its Avest, all of Avhich Avere connected
with and supported each other by curtains, ditches,
and breastworks. Every street Avas barricaded, — many
Avith embrasures for guns, — and every house and house
top was an arsenal of arms and missiles. All along
the streets leading into the town from the north, in
addition to the barricades, there Avere sand-bag para
pets on the house-tops, behind Avhich a large number
of infantry Avere posted. No netAvork of defense

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. lO-o
could have been much better prepared ; and into it
Ave got precisely by the Avay they Avho constructed it
would have Avished us to come.
I am not so familiar Avith the defenses on the Avest
ern side, although I haA^e visited and examined them.
On the hill Iiulependencia, overlooking the Saltillo
road, Avas a large, venerable-looking building, called
by us the bishop's palace (it was formerly the seat
of the bishop of this diocese), Avhich was strongly
fortified and lined Avith troops and artillerj-. This
hill fell off precipitously to the plain on its eastern
side, and the citadel before spoken of commanded all
the approaches from this direction : the Saltillo road,
Avhich Avas a prolongation of the main street of the
city, running west, was defended by lines of barri
cades and the grenelled walls of a cemetery until they
connected Avith the works that I have referred to — of
the eastern defenses. In the centre of the city was
the cathedral, with a large square or plaza in front ;
all the streets leading into it Avere strongly barricaded,
and all the houses in its vicinity strengthened with
every appliance of military engineering within the
means of the garrison. In front of the tOAvn the plain
Avas cut up by numerous quarry-pits from which stone
had been taken for building purposes, and the.se pits
were fringed Avith Ioav chaparral bushes. With these
details, and the knowledge that the road by Avhich Ave
had marched from Marin entered the city from the
north through our present camp, a pretty fair idea
may be obtained of our field of battle.
General Pedro de Ampudia was in chief command,
having among his subordinates Brigadiers Torrejon,

104 ME 310 IRS OF A
Ortega, Requena, Mejia, Conde, and the Governor of
the State of Ncav Leon, Don Manuel M. Llano.
On the 14th day of September, while our army was
at Seralvo, General Ampudia issued the following
proclamation, of Avhich I have a copy, and think it
worthy of preservation, as its style is eminently
Mexican :
"The General-in-Chief of the Army of the North, to his com
jjanions-in-arms.
" Soldiers 1 The enemy, nurabering only two thousand five
hundred regular troops, the reraainder being only a band of ad
venturers without valor or discipline, are, according to reliable
iufoi'mation, about advancing upon Seralvo to commit the bar
barity of attacking this most important place ; we count nearly
three thousand regulars and auxiliary cavalry, and these will
defeat them again and again before they can reach this city.
Soldiers, we are constructing fortifications to make the base of
our operations secure, and hence we will sally forth at a conve
nient time, and drive Imck this enemy at the point of tbe bayonet.
" Soldiers I Three great virtues make the soldier worthy of
his profession: discipline, constancy under fatigue, and valor.
He who would at tbis moment desert his colors is a coward and a
traitor to his country. Our own nation, and even foreign countries,
are the witnesses of your conduct. The question now is, whether
oar independence sball be preserved, or forever lost ; and its so
lution is in your hands.
¦' I bave assured the supreme Government of the triumph of
our arras, confiding in your loyalty and enthusiasm ; and we
will prove to the whole world that we are worthy sons of the
iiuniortal Hidalgo, Morelos, Allende, Iturbide, and so many other
heroes who knew how to die combating for the independence of
our cherished country.
" Soldiers ! Victory or death must be our only device.
" Pedro de Ampudia.
" Headquarters, iloNTEKET, September 14, 184G."

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 105
CHAPTER VIL
S T 0 R .AI I N G OF AI 0 N T E R E Y.
September 21, 1846. I Avas awakened this raorn
ing before dajdight, by an orderly Avho brought a mes
sage that Colonel Watson desired to see me. I dressed
hurriedly and Avent to his tent. He Avas dressing by
candle-light, and, as soon as T entered, told me that he
had receiA'ed orders to march Avith the First Division
to storra Monterey; that he was troubled Avith one
paragraph of the order which directed him to leave
one company of his battalion as a camp-guard, and
he wished to consult Avith me as to the company that
he should detail. We talked the matter over whilst
he Avas dressing, and he determined that Captain
Robert Bronaugh's company should remain in camp.
I should further say that one company of each regi
ment in the division Avas likewise detailed under the
sarae orders as Colonel Watson had received ; the large
force of the eneray's cavalry making it dangerous to
leave our camp Avithout a strong guard. Before he
had finished dressing, the Colonel, holding in his
hands a pair of heavy neAv boots Avith cork soles, sent
to hira as a present frora sorae of his friends of the
Baltiraore Bar, asked me Avhether he should Avear
those or a lighter pair, then lying on the floor of his
tent. I replied, jestingly, that the lighter pair would
be more suitable, as I thought there AA^ould be some
running done to-day : he laughed heartily, and saying

106 31E310IRS OF A
that he had the advantage of me, as he was mounted,
put on the heavy boots. It Avas by these boots as
much as by anything else that I identified his remains
Avhen they were disinterred to send to Baltimore for
burial. The reveille soon sounded throughout our
camp, the slumbering fires of the past night Avere re
plenished Avith Avood, coffee Avas cooked, and by sun
rise our men had breakfasted. Before eight o'clock Ave
Avere in line, and the orders detailing Captain Bro
naugh's company published on the parade. He be-
haA'ed as I Avould haA-e dope, I expect, under the same
circumstances — badly; and sharp and angry AA'ords
passed between him and our Colonel. We moved out
of the Avoods, fell in with the rest of the division, halted,
a detail of Lieutenant Owen of Steuart's company
Avith two enlisted raen from each company Avas made
to report for picket duty, resumed our inarch toward
the cit}', and halted again Avhere Ave had been in line
of battle the preceding CA^ening. The mortar, Avhich
had been then placed, Avas uoav discharged, and Ave
witnessed the flight of the shell and its explosion in
the air oA^er the tOAvn ; several others succeeded with
very uncertain flight, when, from the citadel, two
twelve-pound balls Avere sent in our direction, but
they fell short. After half an hour's halt, the Fourth
Brigade, consisting of our battalion, four companies of
the First Infantry, with six companies of the Third
Infantry, marched by file to the left, and after
thirty minutes' hard marching, emerged frorn a corn
field at the distance of five hundred yards from and
directly in front of a fort (Teneria), Avhich opened
upon us immediately.

3IARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 107
We had been marching by a flank through the
cornfield, but noAv inoA'ed forward into line, which
threw the Third Infantry on the right, the First In
fantry in the centre, and the Baltimore Battalion on
the left. We advanced toward the fort with steadiness
and rapidity, receiving its fire of round and grape
shot, and the musketry of its infantry supports, Avhen
there came across our line of advance, and apparently
in close proximity, the sound of an eighteen-pound
ball sent from the citadel. We were being enfiladed.
Still we advanced ; another shot from the citadel, and
the leg of Lieutenant Dilworth, of the First Infantry,
Avas taken off as he stepped. If the gun Avhich had fired
that shot had been aimed the eighth of an inch raore
to the left, there is no telling how many Avould have
been crippled. Still Ave advanced, notwithstanding
this additional fire on our exposed flank, until Ave
Avere Avithin a little less than one hundred yards of
the fort, until tAVo of the guns Avere abandoned by
their gunners, Avhen, just at the moraent the fruits of
our gallant charge Avere Avithin our grasp, our brigade
coramander committed the unpardonable blunder of
changing the point of attack, and attempting to move
by the right flank by file left, into a street of the town
Avhich debouched into the plain, about opposite the
right of our line — our battalion being directly in front
of the fort on its left. I Avas looking at the embrasure
of the now silent gun, through Avhich I purposed to
go into the redoubt, Avhen I obserA^ed a great deal of
confusion on our right, Avhich in a second Avas com
municated to the Avhole line, and the impetus of our
charge Avas gone. No orders couldbe heard; the din

108 3IEM0IRS OF A
Avas deafening, shot crashing through our ranks; but
it Avas evident Avhat was contemplated, by the direc
tion Avhich our right was taking, and our battalion
followed the Third and First Infantry into the street.
Our brigade commander was a very brave man, — I
saAV this now, and repeatedly afterwards during the
day, — but he Avas no soldier, for he lacked the natural
instinct of a soldier.
If there had been any faltering in his troops, if
there Avere any impassable obstacle in our front, then
there raight have been sorae excuse for changing the
direction of the brigade ; but, going Avith the speed
that Ave Avere, the hesitation caused by all not com
prehending the movement Avas of itself sufficient to
break the elan of the charge, Avithout any regard to
the severity of the fire to which the men Avere ex
posed at the raoraent. The dumbest soldier in that
brigade felt that Ave had m_ade a false and fatal step.
General Garland told me that his purpose AA^as, in
entering the toAvn, '-to take the fort in rerer-se'' He
did not seem to think that those Avho had put the fort
AA'here it Avas Avould be likely to put a line of defenses^
to its reverse as Avell as to its front; he found it out
before the day was over, and my own opinion is he
got this idea from Avhat it was said Captain Bacchus,
of the First Infantry, subsequently did.
Let us see Avhat is said about this matter by others.
I cite from Major R. S. Ripley's History of the War
Avith Mexico, vol. i. page 206, etc.
" When Garland's Division moved from off the batteries (tbe
mortars), Major Mansfield, with other reconnoiteriug officers,
having two companies of infantry as the immediate escort, ad-

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 109
vanced into the suburbs of the town in search of a point of
attack, and, after a short reconnaissance, sent a request to Gar
land to come forward. Whether he intended that he should
come forward in person to examine the position, or that he
should move up his troops to engage thera, Garland understood
hira in the latter sen.-^e. While Mansfield had been employed in
reconnaissance. Garland bad halted tbe main body of his com
mand out of range. Upon receiving the message, he moved
forward iu line, keeping to the left of the raain road. Bv follow
ing the route which Mansfield had pursued, he gave his right
flank to the citadel, wbile Fort Teneria was upon his left and
front. The latter of tbese works soon opened heavily upon the
command, and the citadel followed its example with a destruc
tive enfilading fire. Still the Araericans raoved steadily forward
until reaching the scattered buildings and inclosures of the
suburb, which broke their formation ; but, although in confusion,
the advance was rapidly continued, for it was thought that Fort
Teneria might be turned and taken in reverse. The Mexi
can fire from both citadel and Fort Teneria was kept up with
vigor ; and as the command approached the rivulet through the
suburb, the masked breastworks on its southern bank received
it with anotiier destructive fire, which increased the confusion.
Neither officers nor men knew anything of their position. Mans
field, who had led the assault when the troops had reached him,
although wounded, pressed on, pointing out positions for attack,
and there was no lack of brave officers to lead and brave men to
follow; but from tbe gardens, from the neighboring house-tops,
as well as from the masked breastworks, an unseen foe pelted
the troops with musketry, while the heavy fire from Fort Teneria
and the citadel kept rolling in on their flanks. Movements
against a seemingly practicable point only brought a greater
slaughter ; and after many officers and men had fallen, still
ignorant of their locality, the troops paused, and finally took
shelter in a neighboring street."
It Avill be observed that Major Ripley ascribes our
formation being broken to our reaching the scattered
buildings and inclosures of the suburb. This is an

110 31 E 310 IRS OF A
error, as is also another statement made by him, that
but three officei^s and some seventy men of our bat
talion kept to its work during the assault. Major
Ripley Avas not AA'ith us, but was engaged gallantly
fighting in Worth's Division on the other side of the
town; and I Avill show farther on hoAv this misstate
ment originated, for, up to the period of entering the
toAvn, not a man had shrunk from the assault.
To resume the thread of my narration : I haA-e said
the Third and First Infantry Avere on our right, and
necessarily by the flank raoveraent preceded us into
the street leading into the heart of the toAvn, and they
caught the severity of the fire of the Mexicans lying in
Avait for our advance. It Avas a terrific fire from all
sides, and as Ave hurried up the street we passed the
dead, the dying, and those who Avere seeking shelter of
the tAvo leading battalions. I was well up with the head
of our battalion, and did not look behind, but I have
no doubt that men of ours sought shelter as had those
Avho preceded them. I say, however, that the mass of
our men folloAved as far as the mass of the brigade, and
that was as far as brave raen could go. There Avas
no going any farther; the brigade was gone as an
organization, and the last order given in that toAvn
by Colonel Garland, prior to the order to retreat, Avas
obeyed by sorae twenty or thirty officers and men ;
the rest Avere unable to fight or do more than they
had done, and were lying in the streets by Avhich Ave
had reached the shambles in which we Avere uoav
cooped. I am Avrong in saying this was all that
remained of the brigade ; I did not know at the time,
and I beheve it was not knoAvn to the commanding

31 A RYLAND VOLUNTEER. m
officers, that Captain Bacchus of the First Infantry
had crossed the riA'ulet, and, Avith men of his own
company and others, Avas in possession of a building
Avhich looked into Fort Teneria, and Avas firing upon
its garri,son. I have been told this bv those Avho
Avere present, and believe it to be true, because I had
got some men in a house and Avas firing from its rear
Avindows upon the Mexicans at the bridge head, Avhen
I Avas ordered out, and felt for the instant, by the tone
of the order, as if I had been caught skulking; and I
have a right to say that it Avas not known Bacchus Avas
in a building, or he would have been ordered out of it.
Garland Avas on foot, AYatson Avas on foot. Major
Bainbridge Avas on foot;"-' Lieutenant-Colonel Henry
AVilson, commanding the First Infantry, cool and col
lected, was ou horseback ; the dead and the dying
AA'ere lying very thick, Avhen there carae tearing up
to this point, designated the shambles, a section of
Bragg's Battery, under Lieutenant John F. Reynolds;
it had corae in by the Avay Ave came, and met Avith a
rough reception ; it looked as if it had, and Avhere it
now was not much Avould have been left of it in a
few minutes if not ordered out, Avhich Avas done. To
turn the leading piece was difficult in the narroAv
street ; this Avas efiected by lifting the gun-carriage
jam up to the Avail of the house, in front of Avhich it
had halted, by officers and men of the Baltiraore Bat
talion. This gun disengaged, the other followed it out
into the plain.
The Fourth Brigade Avas gone, but its commanding
* They had been dismounted by the enemy's fire.

112 3IE310IRS OF A
officer Avas at his post. As angry as I Avas, I could
not but admire the courage of Colonel Garland, for
even in that storm of missiles he seemed unAvilling
to Avithdraw. Finally he said to the few about him,
'• We must retreat." Watson, turning to rae, asked
Avhich Avay I Avas going. I replied, " With the men."
He said, '• I ara going this way," and crossed to an
open gateway on the north side of the street, entered
it, and this Avas the last I saw of hira. My second
lieutenant, Oden Bowie, folloAved him; and I, Avith
my lieutenants Schaeffer and Aisquith, took the
streets by which Ave had entered — there was no diffi
culty in finding our route, it was painfully marked —
to the plain outside the town. We were folloAved by
our men, of both regular and volunteer battalions, avIio
joined us in the retreat at every step, from the shel
ters they had sought. They Avere strung along from
the suburbs up to the spot where Garland gave the
order to retreat. As Ave emerged from the town, the
citadel opened upon us Avith redoubled fury, and a
portion of the raen, both regulars and volunteers,
continued their retreat until they got out of the line
of fire ; and this is the foundation of Major Ripley's
statement. The Baltimore Battalion Avent into action Avith
about two hundred and thirty men, there being but
five companies of us, and heavy details (among
others, one of twelve men for Ridgely's battery) had
reduced our present for duty to about this number.
I carried forty-two muskets into action, and ray com
pany was one of the strongest in the battalion ; ,so
that if there were but seventy men, as Ripley says, it

31 A RYLAND VOLUNTEER. II3
was a pretty fair proportion, after what had been
done. But there Avere raore ; I rallied about one hun
dred and eighty officers and raen, and made so respect
able a front that Garland ordered me to unite with
the fragments of the First and Third, Avhich Avere
being formed under Captain Miller, of the First Infan
try, to support Bragg's Battery against a body of Lan
cers Avhich had shown itself in the field, and Avhom
we drove ofl' with loss. I had with me Second
Lieutenant Samuel Wilt, of Corapany A; First Lieu
tenant Laurence Dolan and Second Lieutenant M. K.
Taylor, of Company B; First Lieutenant Eugene
Boyle and acting Lieutenant John Truscott, of Com
pany D; Lieutenants Schaeffer and Aisquith of my own
Company E ; and Captain James Boyd, Avith Second
Lieutenant Robert E. Haslett and acting Lieutenant
James Taneyhill, of Company F. (I am quite posi
tive that I saw Captain James Piper in the toAvn. and
Avas told by those Avho had a right to know, that
Captain James E. Steuart Avas also there. First Lieu
tenant Joseph H. Ruddach, a brave and efficient officer,
was not Avith his Company F, being absent, sick at
Seralvo.) With the Baltimore Battalion as thus
organized I shared the fortunes of the First Division,
under very trying circumstances, until night put an
end to the conflict for the day.
Again let us hear from Ripley; he says, pages 208-9 :
"In tbe raeantirae, Bragg's Battery had been advanced into
the suburb, and had opened ; but a few discharges proved the in
efficiency of his guns in the position. His men and horses fell
rapidly under the fire of tbe unseen enemy, and against the
heavier metal of Fort Teneria in embrasure be was powerless;
8

114 MEMOIRS OF A
and, finally, this first attempt at a demonstration was consum
mated by the whole command being ordered to fall back out of
range." There are two grave errors here. The first, inti
mating that the section of Bragg's Battery to which I
have referred halted in the suburbs ; it did not, it
Avas brought far up into the town. The second error
is in alleging that it opened fire ; it did not ; and the
reason given by Ripley is Avhy it Avas not unlimbered
and put into action, — " his men and horses were falling
rapidly." Garland did right in ordering it out of
town ; it was poAverless there at that time.
I thank Major Ripley for saying that " the whole
command was ordered to fall back out of range," for
it Avas this very order, Avhich I did not hear, that
justified those officers and men of the Baltimore Bat
talion, and abundantly refutes the charge of their
" having fled beyond the range of fire." They ahvays
told me that they Avere not only ordered to retire
beyond the range of fire, but that they Avere led in
doing so by officers other than their own.
After having repulsed the Lancers, Ave were ordered
to shelter ourselves under the earthAvorks of Fort
Teneria, which had been carried while Ave were in the
town by a battalion of the Fourth Regular Infantry and
Quitman's Brigade of the First Mississippi and First
Tennessee regiments of A^olunteers. It must be borne
in mind that the guns of the citadel Avere still sweep
ing the plain, and the capture of Fort Teneria enabled
us, for the first time on that day, to find any shelter
from its fire.
Here Brigadier- General Hamer came with the

31 A RYLAND VOLUNTEER. II5
shattered fragments of his brigade, and here Randolph
Ridgely's Battery Avas soraewhat protected, the riders
and gunners being dismounted.
NoAV -I can explain the death of Watson. When
General Taylor heard the heavy volleys Avith Avhich
the appearance of our brigade in toAvn Avas greeted,
he sent forward a part of Butler's Volunteer Division
to our support. These entered the city by several
streets to the right (west) of the one by Avhich Ave
entered. Its leadins: regiment Avas Colonel Mitchell's,
CO '
the First Ohio Volunteers, — our old friends of the Rio
Grande, — and being met Avith the same reception as
had been given to us, it Avas forced to retreat, and
came out of toAAm a good deal broken up. If Garland
could have held on longer, as he Avanted to do, or
Hamer had arrived sooner, it is more than probable
Ave could have held our own; but Ave just passed each
other, Hamer coraing in as Garland Avas going out.
When Watson left rae, inclining to the left, he met
these troops coming in, and. joining thera, fell dead in
the charge. None of us had seen or heard anything
of Hamer's Brigade until we saAv thera retreating from
the town, and it Avas from them that the distressing
fact Avas raade knoAvn to rae. Up to this tirae I Avas
in raonientary expectation of seeing hira, and Avas
imagining the pride he Avould feel when I turned over
to him the coraraand of his battalion, Avhose gallant
conduct at that tirae was on the lips of CA^ery soldier
of the First Division who had been in the town. " We
will fight with the brave Baltiraoreans," Avas heard on
every side on that raorning of the 21st of September,
after the repulse of the first assault.

116 3IEM0IRS OF A
There was a dry ditch about Fort Teneria; and in
this ditch and around and in the redoubt a large
number of troops were collected of the First, and
Butler's Volunteer Division. Brigadier-General Hamer
ordered the men to form, but upon its being attempted,
the fire from the citadel Avas directed against the
mass, and, at the same time, the guns of Fort Diablo
opened upon us. General Taylor noAv arrived, and
going into the redoubt in company Avith him and
Captain Randolph Ridgely, I saw the latter, aided
by those AvhoAvere around, train the guns of this fort,
which had been captured, upon Fort Diablo, and its
fire materially dirainished by the fire frora our guns
in this fort. Our men Avere noAv enabled to form
without being so much exposed, and another assault
Avas made into the town Avith the same result as the
former. Again I cite from Ripley; he says, pages 211, 212,
213: " So soon as the event was known, fragments of the different
regiraents, and Bragg's and Ridgely's field batteries [I did not
see Bragg's Battery here; 1 ara sure it was not whilst I wasj
were collected about tbe captured work [Fort Teneria]. General
Taylor deterrained to hold his position in the town, aud attempts
were made to advance. General Butler first led the Ohio regi
ment to the left of the former attack, with tbe intention of as
saulting Fort Diablo ; but that work was stoutly defended, and
could not iraraediately be taken. Butler, accordingly, fell back,
but not until be had been wounded and lost raany men. Mean
while Taylor had ordered tbe main force of tbe First Division
(still under Garland, although General Twiggs had come up
from the camp to the captured work*) to extend to the right and
* I will explain tbis matter after I shall have got through with
the extract.

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. UJ
endeavor to penetrate the town, with the idea of making way
by an extended circuit to the rear of Fort Diablo. This was
attempted, and although severely cut up by the fire of the Mexi
cans as they crossed the streets, especially from the tete de pont
of La Purisiraa, the troops passed beyond the bridge-head, and,
although in confusion, entered the yards of the street next the
rivulet, driving the Mexicans from the adjacent houses; but
further advance was impracticable. Directly in front lay a street
swept by the fire of the tete de pont, and beyond, the deep
ditches and high banks of the rivulet: while the Mexicans oc
cupied the parapet of the bridge and a low wall which extended
on the southern bank, whence they plied their musketry with
unceasing vigor. But still tbe ofiicers, though falling with the
men at every moraent, called on thera to raaintain their ground,
while they searched in vain for a practicable point to pass the
stream. Captain Ridgely brought up a section of his battery, but
his fire was ineffectual against that of tbe heavy metal of the
enemy from behind his parapets, and the battle in this quarter
continued without any advantage to the Americans. The Mexi
cans were nevertheless pressed closely, and a heavy battalion of
infantry from the interior of the town was sent to support the
garrison of the tete de pont. It came down the street leading
to the bridge, but before it could gain shelter it had to pass
under the Araerican fire frora the houses and yards on the north
ern bank of the streara, whioh was delivered with so rauch effect
that tbe column was driven back into tbe town. The Mexican
artillery was then placed in position to bear upon the Americans,
and, opening from the distance, beat throuuh the walls of the
houses and yards, whence they delivered their fire and rendered
the position untenable. After a continued occupation of the
exposed point, the attempt to pass the rivulet was given up as
impracticable, and the troops were withdrawn to Fort Teneria.
" While the various operations had taken place in the suburbs,
the Mexican Lancers had made many demonstrations of attack
ing the American troops in rear and cutting up the canip-guard
at the wood of San Domingo,* though none of the deraonstra-
* Our camp.

118 MEMOIRS OF A
tions had been serious except that upon the detached companies
of Garland's retreating command. The main body of the Lancers
had come down at one time upon the Ohio and Mississippi regi
ments [I was in the town when this attack was made], which
had been withdrawn from Fort Teneria; but these regiments had
fallen back against a chaparral fence, whence they delivered a fire,
and the Lancers had retreated. Bragg's Battery was sent in that
direction frora the captured work, and a few discharges effectually
dispersed thera. The captured guns of Fort Teneria were served
from tirae to tirae upon Fort Diablo, until one of the howitzers
was brought forward frora the first position of the batteries. But
the principal operations of the day upon the eastern front of
Monterey were finished. During the afternoon the main body
of the troops remained in and about the captured work, collect
ing the dead and wounded, and strengthening the position. The
enemy made no direct attempt to dislodge them, but kept up a
cannonade from Fort Diablo whenever any were exposed, which
was replied to frora a howitzer and with musketry. A move
ment of Lancers on the southern bank of the San Juan beyond
tbe town was opposed by Ridgely's Battery, and a few shots
drove them back. When night fell, the First, Third, and Fourth
Infantry and Ridgely's guns were detailed to guard the captured
work, and the remaining troops were ordered to the camp at the
wood of San Doraingo."
It Avould be very difficult for any one Avriter to
have detailed raore faithfully than Major Ripley has
done the events embraced in the above extract from
his history; the only raaterial error is in including in
the second assault sorae matter of description Avhich
belongs to the first assault, and connected therewith.
I doubt much Avhether a more correct description Avas
ever given of the incidents of a day's battle.
I said that I Avould explain the matter about
General TAviggs's arrival at the captured Avork, and
why it was that Garland still commanded the First

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. HQ
Division. I should, before this, have said that Colonel
Garland was the next senior to General Twiggs, and
took command of the division in his absence I saAv
General Twiggs Avhen he came upon the field riding
from the direction of the carap, but Avell out of the
range of the guns of the citadel. This Avas, I think,
about noon; it might haA'e been a little earlier, but it
Avas after the repulse of our first assault. I Avas so
struck Avith his coraing alraost alone and in such A-ery
unmilitary garb, that he noticed me, and, approach
ing, said, " I expected a battle to-day, but didn't think
it Avould come off so soon, and took a dose of medicine
last night, as I ahvays do before a battle so as to
loosen my bowels ; for a bullet striking the bell}^ when
the bowels AA^ere loose might pass through the in
testines Avithout cutting thera." I Avas very much
interested at hearing all this from so old a goldier,
but still it didn't satisfy rae ; and I Avasn't astonished
Avhen I heard subsequently that General Taylor had
quietly ignored his being present, and suffered the
command of his division to remain Avith Garland.
He, however, remained in and about the field, althougli
I did not see him again until late in the cA'cning, Avhen
he appeared to have assumed command, and ordered
the division, Avith the exception of the regiments
before mentioned, to return to camp.
Among the raany officers Avho had strenuously
exerted themselves during the day, after the first
assault, to reorganize the broken troops of both divi
sions, my attention Avas particularly attracted to one
by reason of his voice ; it Avas so clear, so distinct, so
encouraging, and commanding, that when I first

120 MEMOIRS OF A
heard it I looked toward him and inciuired who he
Avas, and Avas told that he Avas Colonel Albert Sydney
Johnston, of Te.xas, serving on the staff of Major-
General Butler. I was sorry Avhen my coraraand was
taken from him, as he Avas the first officer that had
succeeded in bringing some degree of order out of the
confusion which prevailed.
In recalling the effect produced upon me by the
voice of Colonel Johnston, I cannot refrain from giving
expression to the cheering influence of the manner
and AA'ords of Captain Randolph Ridgely. When Ave
Avere entering the town at the second assault, Ridgely
came tearing along with his section, his head slightly
bent forward, Avith his face to the right, as if meeting
a storm of sleet, instead of iron, rain, and leaden hail,
as it was ; while in this position, passing me, march
ing forAvard with the Baltimore Battalion, his whole
face lighted up with a smile, and he cried out,
" Kenly, what do you think of this ?" it seeming to
do him good to know that I was in the same predica
ment Avith him.
Of this day's fighting, Major Ripley says truly,
there Avere not Avanting " brave officers to lead, or
brave men to follow ;" and we had lost three hundred
and ninety-four men killed or wounded, including one
general officer, eight field officers, seven captains, and
eighteen lieutenants.
We dragged our Aveary limbs back to camp, and
then I realized most painfully the irreparable loss we
had sustained in the death of Colonel Watson, and I
almost reproached myself at not having grieved more
during the day ; he was not only my commander, he
was my friend, and I mourned his death.

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 121
September 22. A heavy cannonading Avas kept up
all liist night, and the rockets from the town illumi
nated the mountains in the rear to such an extent
that the scenery Avas grand, almost sublime. At
reveille Ave Avere ordered to be ready to leave at a
moment's warning, and the stiffened limbs of the
men yielded uuAvilling obedience to orders to fall in.
During the morning it was reported that the Mexi
cans Avere assembling on the plain, and the divi
sion Avas formed, when my company Avas detailed
to moA^e to the front to support Bragg's Battery,
near the city. I left the carap Avith ray raen, and
once raore took the road to the town. We soon per
ceived that there was heavy firing on the hill next
the Loraa Independencia, upon Avhich Avas the bishop's
palace, and we saw the soldiers fighting; it was the
most exciting scene I had ever beheld, for now they
were advancing to the assault on the palace. Hoav
my heart beat ! for I felt that if they could carry the
palace, the town Avas ours. On rushed the Araeri
cans, in full view as we marched, met with the fire
from the Mexicans; but still they pressed on, and
now they were getting in the works. Almost simul
taneously with the entry of the Americans, we saw
the Mexicans leaping from the windows, and running
from the rear of the palace down the hill toAvard the
city. We saw the Mexican flag lowered, and such a
cheer as we sent up was never heard before on that
plain ; it was taken up by other troops, and the first
flash of victory filled our breasts with inexpressible
exultation. The bishop's palace carried, it was clear that the

122 MEMOIRS OF A
town was gone, for this hill entirely commanded
Monterey and its environs, and it Avas only a question
of time as to when it would surrender. All the dan
gers and fatigues of the preceding day were forgotten,
and Ave moved forward almost forgetting the black
fort, until a well-known sound reminded us that its
heavy metal Avas paying its respects to us. I took
my position on the left of the battery, which Avas in
a slight hollow under the brow of a hill, and there we
lay for tAvo long hours exposed to an uninterrupted
firing frora the citadel, its twelve- and eighteen-pound
balls flying over us in direct flight, or else raade to
ricochet so as to plunge in our midst. We lay with
our heads toward the fort, with intervals of several
feet betAveen each man, and the horses and the guns
Avere likcAvise separated by intervals, so that the rise
of the hill protected us from the fire ; but many of the
ricochet shot plunged through, tearing up the earth
in furrows, and scattering sand and gravel over us ;
but not one man was struck. Only the arm-chest of
one of the limbers was shattered, the chips from
which, flying in the air, Avere greeted by a loud cheer
from the fort; and they never ceased firing as long as
we remained there. Finally one by one the guns
were AvithdraAvn, and then in single file we ran as
fast as Ave could until Ave got under shelter from the
never-to-be-forgotten sound of those cannon-balls. I
made the experience that nothing is so demoralizing
to troops as exposure to an artillery fire of solid shot.
I saw our very best troops on the preceding day quail
under this fire, and to-day I noticed the dread with
Avhich our artillerymen regarded it as they made
ready to withdraw from our position.

31A RYLAND VOLUNTEER. 123
We had been thrown out to check any demonstra
tion from the city, but the capture of the bishop's
palace and the advance of Worth's troops gave the
Mexicans enough to attend to in toAvn.
Our division was now allowed to take some much-
needed rest, and Ave lay listening to the sounds of the
battle raging in Monterey, with that interest which
it is irapossible to portray, and which Avill be forcA^er
unknown, except to those who had gone through the
fiery baptism of the preceding day. With us, every
volume of sound Avas scrutinized, Avhether it were ours
or theirs, every phase of the roar of musketry or boom
ing of guns Avas discussed as to its locality and proba
ble effect, the numbers engaged were counted over and
over again, and the movements' of the morrow deter
mined, Avith an assurance of success that the fall of
the bishop's palace had now given to every raan in
our array.

CHAPTER VIIL
THIRD DAY OF THE BATTLE.
At reveille on the raorning of Wednesday, Septem
ber 23d, we were again ordered to hold ourselves
in readiness to leave, as a final attack was to be
made on the town by the whole of the two divisions.
At 8.30 the long roll sounded and the troops sprang
to their arms ; at 9 o'clock a.m. avo marched from
our camp, still in the wood of San Domingo, but

124 ME3I0IRS OF A
called by us Walnut Springs, and followed our well-
known road to the city ; we halted Avithin half a
mile from the town, when the First Division moved for
Avard into line of battle, and the command was given.
^^ In place, rest." This looked like Avork, and we had
reason to believe that it Avas before us, for the town
Avas shrouded in a canopy of smoke, within Avhose folds
a sanguinary combat Avas raging. We were corapara
tively safe frora fire, and our interest and excitement
increased every hour ; bombs Avere flying continually
frorn either side ; volleys of musketry, lighting up the
smoke Avith a lurid glare, Avere mingled Avith the dull
heavy roar of cannon flashing their jets of flame
through the dark cloud euA'eloping friend and foe,
and rolling down upon us, reeking Avith the smell of
battle. I would have given an arm to haA^e been
ordered to the attack, and all Avere alike excited.
As the fighting continued, I never beheld men in
such a condition as ours ; it was irapossible to keep
thera in the ranks. They would jump up and sit down,
fix and unfix bayonets, open their cartridge-boxes, un
button their coats, stamp with their feet, swear the
most horrid oaths, and it needed but one single cry of
" Forward 1" to haA'e thrown that division like a torrent
into the city, to aid their hard-pressed comrades.
Still we waited for the order, still the fight raged in
the town ; hour after hour passed, hearing a battle and
we doing nothing. We had been kept so long momen
tarily expecting the order to advance, that Ave had
got worked up in the excitement to almost imagining
that we were in position to participate, expecting to
see the Mexicans making a sortie ; and this Avas pre-

3IARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 125
cisely Avhat we Avere doing, and what we were placed
here to do, although we Avere not aware of it at the
time. We must now take a glance at what Worth has
been doing in this great drama, still continuing, and
see Avhere his troops are on this third day.
As we have seen, he left our camp at Walnut
Springs on the afternoon of Sunday, the 20th, and
after a sharp skirmish on the Saltillo road Avith a
large force of Mexican cavalry and infantry, suc
ceeded in turning the left or Avestern defenses of Am
pudia, and was on the night of that day in rear of the
town. On the 21st, by a series of brilliant moveraents,
he had effected such results that the capture by
assault of the bishop's palace on the 22d, and the pur
suit of its fleeing garrison into the western part of the
town, followed as necessary consequences frora these
initial steps. His troops, advancing from the west,
Avere uoav on this third day pressing the Mexicans
toAvard the fire of the Americans, Avorking their way
from the east.
That General Worth handled his troops with con
summate skill, and that his division behaved with
great gallantry, no one has eA'er questioned. They
gained great credit, and deservedly Avon the praise
and the confidence of our country ; but it avouIcI be to
ignore facts if it Avere not admitted that General Tay
lor's operations on the eastern and northern fronts
had contributed most raaterially to Worth's successes.
In fact, Taylor did the work, and our losses had been
AVorth's gain, our little brigade losing more men on
the 21st than Worth's Avhole division in the three

126 MEMOIRS OF A
days' fighting; and this is the way it happened. The
Mexican General was outgeneraled, outAvitted, and
outmanoeuvred from first to last. He had failed in
every single instance to divine the object contem
plated by us, and in no single instance did he display
sufficient military judgment to take advantage of our
mistakes. With a superior force of infantry, he failed
to make a single sortie after our repulses ; and Avith
a superior force of cavalry, he failed to make a single
successful demonstration upon our broken troops.
When, on the night of Sunday, Taylor lay in front
of Monterey to cover Worth's flank movement, Ampu
dia Avas taken by surprise, and, without sufficient
reflection, believed that ours was the real column of
attack, and Worth's but a feint. When on the next
morning he found Taylor had gone and Worth ad
vancing, he threAv his heavy masses of infantry to the
line of his western defenses, but to be hurried back as
soon as he saw Taylor's column advancing to his
eastern Avorks. He was now sure that Worth meant
only a diversion in favor of Taylor, and that his origi
nal opinion Avas correct and had been well founded.
This mistake, Avhile it operated to his destruction,
Avas near proving ours, for he thrcAV at least six
thousand infantry against us and kept thera pelting
aAvay Avith but little regard to Worth's action. The
consequences were that though he drove us out of
town, he failed to support Fort Teneria, which was
carried, while the Fourth Brigade was fighting the un
equal contest and keeping his troops engaged as
already narrated; and, haA'ing effected a lodgraent,
Taylor's position Avas so threatening on his right flank

3IARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 127
that he kept under the delusion that his danger was
most imminent here, and kept the masses of his
troops of the line confronting us. The bishop's palace
was thus shamefully neglected by him, and Avhen it
fell, as I have already described, on the 22d, he awoke
to the startling realities of his false calculations.
But one step remained for him to take, and that
was to recapture the palace if it cost hira his last
man ; he had plenty of troops and to spare to do it
Avith, and he only raade an abortive demonstration on
the night of the 22d.
Thus it Avill be seen, as is unraistakably the fact, that
Taylor had been fighting, up to this time, the bulk of
the Mexican array; and the losses of the respectiA'e
Divisions demonstrate it.
Now, on this third day, the advance of Worth's
Division from the Avest relieved considerably the press
ure on Taylor, and the whole army was concentra
ting its cordon around the garrison of Monterey. On
the Avest, the guns from the bishop's palace Avere
throwing shot and shell ; on the south, a single gun
Avas plunging solid shot into the main plaza ; on the
east. Fort Teneria Avas hurling its missiles toAvard the
cathedral; and on the north lay our Division, an
unbroken line of tried troops, — a dangerous neighbor
in this hour of battle.
All this grand panorama was passing before our eyes,
and until dark, without hunger, and without thirst,
Ave waited. The curtain was up, and we were ready
dressed to play our part. The call was not sounded,
for we had been performing all that our comraanding
general had wanted us to do ; for he knew where the

128 ME3I0IRS OF A
First Division of his army was, and he knew what he
was doing when he put it there.
As night approached, the firing gradually dropped
off, save that noAv and then a whizzing, which seeraed
raore spiteful because less in quantity, might be heard
cutting the air as the missile sped on its flight ; now
and then the explosion of a single bomb lit up the
darkness of cloud and smoke with a thousand pictures
of light and shadow ; but as the cold shades of evening
fell upon us, a silence, heaA'y and profound, was over
carap and field, toAvn and mountains, the living and
the dead.
We returned noiselessly to the Avood of San
Domingo for rest, in order to gather strength for
another day of unrest.
September 24 — Thursdav. The first information I
received this morning was, that an armistice had been
agreed upon for the tAventy-four hours from the past
midnight until the next ; all Avas excitement and
speculation as to the probabilities of an evacuation of
the city by the Mexicans. During the day several
heaA'y guns were heard, and we thought that hostili
ties had recoraraenced. At 5 o'clock in the after
noon the long roll beat, and we fell in hurriedly, not
knowing Avhat Avas to be done next; our Avhole brig
ade marched out of camp under command of Colonel
Garland, and took the road to the fort which he had
attacked on Monday raorning the 21st. As we raarched
along, every eye was turned toAvard the old gray
citadel ; there was the sarae grim artillery looking
frora over the parapets, and each instant we expected
to see the fire belch forth from its open mouths. No

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. ]29
man Avould dare to deny the relief he felt Avhen, filing
from the main road, Ave obliqued to the left and Avere
under cover from its range. We reached the Avell-
remembered locality, and learned that Ave Avere to re-
licA'c General Hamer's brigade in holding Fort Teneria
and adjacent Avorks.
As Ave neared the redoubt, the stench frora the
buried and unburied dead was so offensive, that many
of the men Avere made sick to vomiting. The four
companies of the First Infantry under Lieutenant-
Colonel Wilson Avere stationed in the main fort, and
he did my company the honor to request that it might
be detailed to streno-then his battalion. Not knoAvim?
Avhat Avork Avas before us. we had left camp to go into
battle Avithout overcoat.^, and brinojino- Avith us neither
rations nor blanket.s ; it grew very cold, and there
Avas nothing but the bare ground to lie upon. -Just
as they Avere dressed at midday, the men noAV lay
huddled together, with their loaded muskets (which
they AA^ere ordered to keep in their hands) sadly inter
fering: with eft'orts to afford each other a little warmth.
We kncAV not at Avhat moment Ave AA'ould be attacked,
and the entire absence of rumor kept us in such .sus
pense, that, Avith the dreadful stench, increasing every
hour, I think that no one fell asleep. Not less than
thirty Mexicans had been covered up in a breastAvork
or curtain which extended and ran from the fort in
Avhich Ave Avere, to a distillery near by that had been
converted into a redoubt ; upon some of these bodies
the earth was verv thin, while our own dead were
adding to the lesson of the day, and preaching to the
living, as never priest taught in meeting-house or
9

130 ME310IRS OF A
minster, that " this corruptible mnst put on incorrup-
tion." I Avas on guard, and, as I could not have slept, was
rather glad of it; there Avas no necessity to visit my
.sentries on post — they were Avide aAvake. About raid-
night I heard the sharp challenge of the most distant
sentinel, and the next moment the rattling of sabres
and the noise as if of a body of horse moving rapidly
toward us. Not a doubt Avas in ray mind but that it
Avas a body of Lancers at the head of a sally from the
tOAvn. I gave the alarm instantly, and every man
Avas on his feet. Captain Webster, Avho with his two
twenty-four-pound hoAvitzers Avas Avithin the fort,
pointed his guns, matches Avere lighted, and every
thing Avas made ready to meet the coming Shock. No
one smelt the dead, but the chill of the night air
caused many a braA'e man to shiA'er Avith the cold as
Ave stood in the darkness, hours of time concentrated
in the running of a few minutes. Colonel Garland
came into the fort, told Lieutenant-Colonel Wilson
that the noise Avhich had alarmed us was " General
Taylor and .staff leaving the city, escorted by a regi
ment of Mexican caA'alry ; that all was settled, and
that a capitulation had been agreed upon."
So sudden Avas the transition in our feelings, so
sudden the unexpected intelligence of a cessation of
hostilities, that the exultation, which otherAvise Avould
have been natural, was smothered by a dumb sense
of Avonder rid astonishment.
In the startling alarm of approaching Mexicans in
the dead of night, Ave had lost smell of the stench ;
Ave now lost all feeling of cold in the variety of

31A RYLAND VOLUNTEER. 131
emotions caused by the knowledge lighting up our
minds that a great victory had croAvned our arms with
the success Ave had fought so continuously to win.
September 25 — Friday. As daylight approached,
the ramparts Avere croAvded Avith the .soldiers, anxious
to see the evidence of the town being in our hands.
NcA'er did the glorious sun shine on a raore beautiful
prospect than Avas lying stretched around and about
us. Nature Avas in unison Avith our feelings, and the
happy termination of days and weeks of toil and
danger added to the delight Avhich a smiling landscape
awakens in the dullest of huraan beings.
Within an hour, hundreds of Avoraen carne to the
fort, some sobbing, sorae smiling, to see the prisoners
Avho Avere confined in the distillery building : they
Avere admitted, and it Avas so affecting an intervieAV
that I had to go away.
We still waited to see our flag throAvn to the breeze,
but Ave Availed in vain ; the Avhole toAvn seemed as if
dead, so quiet was everything, and rumors started tts
if by raagic frora all quarters (in the fort and Avorks
Ave were holding) that the capitulation Avas a mere
ruse, and done to gain tirae ; that if they had been old
Taylor, they wouldn't have granted an armistice — not
a minute ; Ihey kncAV hoAV it Avould be all along, etc.
etc. etc.
We had got some ship-biscuits and salt beef, and
the most of us Avere champing away at our hard tack,
when, at 1 o'clock p..ai., there came a I'^sh of fire
so suddenly, followed by such- a density of volurae of
sound like the crash of thundfe'r, that we sprang to our
feet simultaneously. " They have begun again," Avas

132 31E310IRS OF A
the general exclamation of officer and man ; and all
eyes were directed to the old gray castle. Behold !
the American flag was being hoisted on that staff,
from which the Mexican ensign had so proudly — yes,
and gallantly — Avaved. One deafening shout foUoAved,
as sudden and as overpoAvering in volume as had been
the salute A\-hich the Mexicans had paid to their flag
Avhen loAvered at the citadel ; three tiraes three was
huzzaed by everj' corapany and regiraent of Taylor's
army; and the flag of the Baltimore Battalion Avas
hoisted on Fort Teneria as Captain Webster's guns.
under command of Lieutenant James L. Donaldson,
of Baltimore, fired a national salute in honor of the
storming and capture of Monterey.

CHAPTER IX.
CAPITULATION OF MONTEREY.
" General Orders.
" Terais of the capitulation of the city of Monterey, tbe capi
tal of Xueva Leon, agreed upon by the undersigned commission
ers, to svit: General Worth, of the United States army ; General
Henderson, of the Texan Volunteers; and Colonel Davis, of the
Mississippi Riflemen, on tbe part of Major-General Ta^'lor, com
manding in chief the L'nited States forces ; and General Requena
and General Ortega, of tbe Army of Mexico, and Seiior Manuel
M. Llano, Governor of Nueva Leon, on the part of Sefior Gen
eral Don Pedro Ampudia, commanding in chief tbe Army of tbe
North of Mexico.
" Article 1. As the legitimate result of the operations before
this place, and the present position of the contending armies, it
is agreed that the city, the fortifications, cannon, the munitions
of war, and all other public property, with the under-mentioned

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 133
exceptions, be surrendered to the commanding general of the
United States forces now at Monterey.
" Article 2. That tbe Mexican forces be allowed to retain the
following arms, to wit : The commissioned officers, tbeir side
arms ; the cavalry, their arms and accoutreraents ; tbe artillery,
one Held battery, not to exceed six pieces, with twenty-one rounds
of ammunition.
"Article 3. That the ^[exican armed forces retire within
seven davs from this date beyond the line formed by the pass of
the Rinconada, the city of Linares, and San Fernando de Fusos.
" Article i. That the citadel of Monterey be evacuated by
the Mexican and occupied by the American forces to-morrow
morning- at 10 o'clock.
" Article 5. To avoid collisions, and for rautual convenience,
that the troops of the United States will not occupy the citv
until the ^lexican forces have withdrawn, except for hospital
and storage purposes.
"Article 6. That the forces of the United States will not
advance beyond the line specified in the third article before the
expiration of eight weeks, or until the orders of the respective
governments can be received.
" Article t. That tbe public propertj' to be delivered shall
be turned over and received by officers appointed by the com
manding u-enerals of the two arraies.
" Article 8. That all doubts as to the meaning of an\- of the
preceding articles shall be solved by an equitable construction,
aud on principles of liberality to tbe retiring army.
"Article 9. That the Mexican flag, when struck at tbe cita
del, may be saluted by its own battery.
" iSi^'iiedj " AV. J. Worth,
" Brigadier-General Lunited States Army.
"J. PiNKNET Henderson,
" Major-General oommandin;,' Te.xan A'olunte ts.
"Jetfersox Davls,
" Colonel ilississippi Eiflcmen.
" J. JI. Ortega,
" T. Requena,
"Manuel 31. Llano.
r " Pedro Ampudia,
"Approved. |„2. Taylor, 3Iaj.-Gen. U.S.A. Commanding.
" Dated at Monterey. September 2i, 1846."

134 31E3I0IRS OF A
Prior to this capitulation, a flag of truce had arrived
at our camp Avithout my knoAvledge early on the
morning of the 24th, although I Avas early informed
that an armistice for twenty-four hours had been
arranged. The flag bore the following letter from
General Ampudia to General Taylor :
" £>. Pedro Ampudia, General-in-Chief, io Major-General Taylor.
"Headquarters at Monterey,
September 23, 1846, 9 o'clock p.m.
" Senor General, — Having made the defense of whicb I be
lieve this city is susceptible, I have fulfilled my duty, and have
satisfied the military honor which, in a certain manner, is com
raon to all armies of the civilized world.
" To prosecute the defense, therefore, would only result in
distress to the population, who have already suffered enough
frora the misfortunes consequent on war; and taking it for
granted that the American government has manifested a dis
position to negotiate, I propose to you to evacuate the city and
its fort, taking with me tbe personnel and materiel wbich
have remained, and under tbe assurance that no harm sball
ensue to the inhabitants who have taken a part in tbe defense.
" Be pleased to accept the assurance of my distinguished con
sideration. " Pedro de Ampudia.
"To Seiior Don Z. Taylor,
"Commander-in-chief of the American Army. '
To this. General Taylor sent the following ansAver:
" Headquarters Army of Occupation,
Camp before Monterky,
September 24, 1846, 7 o'clock a.m.
" Sir, — Your communication bearing date at 9 o'clock p.ji.
on the 23d instant has just been received by the hands of Colo
nel Morena.
" In answer to your proposition to evacuate the city and fort,
with all Vae personnel a.ndmateriel of vjfar, I have to state that
my duty compels me to decline acceding to it. A complete sur-

31 A RYLAND VOLUNTEER. l^-j
render of the lown aud garrison, the latter as prisoners of war,
is now demanded. But sucb surrender will lie upon terms; and
the gallant defense of the place, creditable alike to the .Mexican
troops and nation, will prompt me to make those terras as Ijljeral
as possible. The garrison will be allowed at your option, alter
laying down its arms, to retire to the interior, on condition of
not serving again during the war or until regularly exchaii!i-ed.
I need hardly say that tbe rights of non-combatants will be re
spected. "An answer to this communication is required bv 1-2 o'clock.
If you assent to an accommodation, an officer will be dispatched
at once, under instructions to arrange the conditions.
" I am sir, very respectfully,
"Your obedient servant, "Z. Taylor,
" Alajor-General U.S..1. (_'omma^KlinL^
" '-^cflor D. Pedro de Ampt-dia.
" General-in-chief, Monterey.'
During the day a cessation of hostilities took place,
and, at the request of Ampudia, an interview took
place between the two commanding generals, Avhich
resulted in the capitulation, and to Avhich I haA'e
heretofore referred.
Before I refer to the terms granted to the Mexicans,
and which occasioned Avide-spread coraraent and dis
satisfaction both at Washington and in tlie array, — in
the latter, a reflex of the former, — I shall give ex
tracts from the official report of General Taylor :
" Upon occupying the city it was discovered to l)e of great
strength in itself, and to have its approaches carefully and
strongly fortified. The town and works were armed with forty-
two pieces of cannon, well supplied with ammunition, and manned
with a force of at least seven thousand troops of the line and
from two thousand to three thousand irregulars. The force
under my orders before Monterey was four hundred and twenty-
five officers and six thousand two hundred and twentv raen.

136 31E3101RS OF A
Our artillery consisted of one ten-inch mortar, two twenty-four-
pound howitzers, and four light field batteries of four guns — the
mortar being the only piece suitable to the operations of the
siege. " Our loss is twelve officers and one hundred and eight men
killed; thirty-one officers and three hundred and thirty-seven
men wounded.* That of the enemy is not known, but is be
lieved to considerably exceed our own."
The folloAving is a list of the officers killed or those
who died from their Avounds, and the list of the
Avounded, in the operations about Monterey :
Captain Williams, Topographical Engineers.
Major W. W. Lear, Tbird Infantry.
Lieutenant J. C. Terrett, First Infantry.
Lieutenant R. Dilworth, First Infantry.
Captain L. X. Jlorris, Third Infantry.
Captain G. P. Field, Third Infantry.
Captain and Brcvet-^Iajor P. N. Barbour, Tbird Infantry.
Lieutenant D. S. Irwin, Third Infantry.
Lieutenant R. Hazlitt, Third Infantry.
Lieutenant C. Hoskins, Fourth Infantry.
Brevet-Lieutenant .J. S. Wood, of tbe Second Infantry ; serv
ing with the Fourth Infantry.
Captain II. ?iIcKavett, Eighth Infantry.
Lieutenant-Colonel Wm. H. Y'atson, Baltimore Battalion.
Lieutenant Hett, First Ohio Volunteers.
Captain Allen, First Tennessee Volunteers.
Lieutenant Putnam, First Tennessee Yolunteers.
Captain Gillespie, Texas Rangers.
Among the Avounded officers Avere
Major-General Butler, slightly ; Lieutenant-Colonel ^McClung,
of the First Mississippi Rifles, severely; Colonel Mitchell, of the
* The total loss in Worth's Division, killed and wounded, in
the operations about Monterey, was fifty- Hve, which of course is
included in the above aggregate of four hundred and eighty-eight.

31AUYLAND VOLUNTEER. I37
First Ohio Voluuteers, slightly ; ]Major Mansfiehl, of tbe Engineer
(^or|)s ; IMajor J. .S. Abercrombie, of the First Infantry; Captain
•T. 11. Lamotte, of tbe First Infantry; ;\[ajor II. Bainbridge, of the
Tbird Infantry ; Lieutenant R. H. Graham, of the Fourth In
fantry ; Lieutenant N. B. Rossell, of tbe Fifth Infantry; Captain
R. C. Gatlin and Lieutenant I. II. Pollet, of the Seventh Infantry;
and Lieutenant C. Wainwright, of the Eighth Infantry.
The following is the list of the killed or Avho died
from their AVOunds, and the Avounded, of the battalion
of Baltimore and Washington Yolunteers, in the opera
tions about Monterey, Mexico, September 2lst, 22d,
and 23d, 1846 :
Lieutenant-Colonel Wm. H. Watson, Commanding Battalion,
killed. Orderly Sergeant and -Icting Lieutenant John Truscott,
Company D, killed.
Serizeant George A. Herrinff, Company F. killed.
Private Wra. ,1. Alexander, Company A, killed.
" Roljert Caples. C'lmipany A, killed.
" Patrick O'Brien, Company B, killed.
" Alexander Ramsay, Company E, killed.
Joseph Wharry, Company E, killed.
William Kelly, Company F, kUled.
WOUNDED.
Private Joseph Files, Company A, lost an arm.
William Lee, Company A, shot through the body.
" Robert Donnelly, Company A, slightly.
Orderly Sergeant Wm. F. Powelson, Company B, slightly.
Private George Harrold, Company B, slightly.
" Charles Yeck, Company D, slitihtly.
" Andrew J. Morris, Company D, slightly.
Color Sergeant Albert Hart, lost an arm.
Color-Guard Corporal Jacob C. Hemmick, slightly.
Orderly Sergeant G. Oliver Lansdale, Company E, slightly.
Pfivntp .Ifdin A llpn Pnninnnv V sb'o-btlv

138 MEMOIRS OF A
Private James Henry, Company E, severely.
" Harry I. Eiting, Corapany E, slightly.
" Henry Gifford, Corapany F, slightly.
" Melvin S. Stone, Corapany F, slightly.
" Edward Stephenson, Company F, slightly.
Total : Killed, nine ; wounded, sixteen ; aggregate, twenty-
five. " The battle is over : the army, both regulars and volunteers, —
or raore properly speaking, Americans, — have proved themselves
invincible. Both officers and men, with death staring them in
the face, did tbeir duty without flinching, and with a bravery
worthy of all praise." — From "Campaign Sketches," hy Gap-
tain W. S. Henry, Third Infantry.
A meeting of the officers of the battalion Avas held
in camp, on September 27th, for the purpose of
expressing the regret felt by the battalion, and the
loss it had met with, in the death of Lieutenant-
Colonel William H. Watson, of Baltimore, its late
commanding officer. Resolutions Avere passed, eulo
gizing the character of the deceased, and manifesting
deep sympathy for his bereaved family ; a committee
Avas also appointed to prepare suitable resolutions for
transmission to the newspapers of Baltimore City, for
publication, so that the sense of the meeting might be
made known to the people of Maryland.
Before I give place to the report of Captain James
E. Steuart, the senior captain of the battalion, I tran
scribe the following congratulatory order of General
Taylor : "Headquarters Army of Occupation,
"Camp near Monterey, September 27, 1846.
"Orders No. 123.
" The commanding general has the satisfaction to congratulate
the array under his command upon another signal triumph over
the Mexican forces, superior to us in numbers, strongly fortified.

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. I39
and with an immense preponderance of artillery. They have
yet been driven from point to point, until forced to sue for terms
of capitulation. Such terras bave been granted as were con
sidered due to the gallant defense of the town, and to the liberal
policy of our own government.
" Tlie general begs to return his thanks to his commanders,
and to all bis ofiicers and men, both of the regular and volunteer
forces, for the skill, the courage, and the perseverance with whicb
they have overcome manifold difficulties, and finally achieved a
victoiy, shedding lustre upon the American arms.
" A great result has been obtained, but not without the loss of
mauy gallant and accomplished officers and brave men. The
arraj' and country will deeply sympathize with tbe families and
friends of those who have thus sealed tbeir devotion with their
lives. " By order of Major-General Taylor. " AV. AV. S. Bliss, " A. A. G."
Official Beport of Captain James E. Steuart, commanding
officer of the Battalion of Baltimore and Washington Volunteers.
" Camp near Monterey, Mexico,
September 26, 1846.
" The battalion of Maryland and D. C. Yolunteers, under the
commaud of Lieutenant-Colonel Watson, connected with the First
Regiment of Infantry, the whole under the command of Lieu
tenant-Colonel W^ilson, were ordered to march at about 8 o'clock
on the morning of tbe 21st inst., for the attack on Monterey.
The battalion were out in tbeir full strength, save Company C,
Captain Bronaugh, which was ordered to reraain on guard-duty
at carap, and Lieutenant Owen, of Company A, with a detach
ment of twelve raen, were ordered on picket-guard by General
Twiggs. The battalion raarched towards the city, and charged
in the most gallant manner on a battery, under a galling fire in
wbich it sustained some loss. The point of attack was then
changed by order of Colonel Garland, and we entered tbe city
exposed to a destructive fire from several batteries, supported by
a large number of infantry, which raked the streets.
"We remained in the city for nearly half an hour, when we

140 3IE310IRS OF A
were ordered to retire ; in doing so, the battalion became sepa
rated. Colonel Watson fell by a musket-shot, whilst gallantly
leading on to a second assault on the city.
"A portion of the battalion was then formed under Captain
Kenly, and remained on the field of battle until it was ordered
back to carap by General Twiggs, having been under a heavy
fire nearly nine hours, losing in action: killed, six; wounded,
eighteen.* " I take pleasure in noticingthe gallant conduct of the battalion
throughout. "(Siirned) " .James E. Steuart,
" Captain Commanding. "
It will be observed that this report bears date the
26th day of September. On the preceding day I had
handed to Captain Steuart my report of the opera
tions on the 21st inst., in which I reported that I had
rallied the battalion after Ave had corae out of the
town, and, finding rayself the senior officer present,
had assumed coinraa,nd, had kept it in ttction, and
fought Avith it, until ordered at nightfall to return to
camp. I also reported the names of the officers
Avho Avere present Avith their companies, and their
gallant conduct during the clay.
I was on friendly terms Avith Captain Steuart, had
seen him behave with as much bravery as any man
in the brigade in the assault on the fort, and never
dreamed that he Avould do rae the wrong to Avithhold
from the commanding general the official knoAA'ledge
of ray conduct on the 21st.
He did Avithhold it, and also his own official report,
until it was too late for me to remedy the wrong ; and
* Three of these were raortally wounded, and two of them
were dead at the date of this report.

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 141
the consequence Avas, my name was not mentioned in
general orders from the headqutirters of the army.
The bare mention of this behavior will convey to
a soldier, after reading Captain Steuart's own report,
a proper sense of the grievous and irreparable wrong
done me.
A feAV days after the capitulation, an officer came
to me, direct from General Taylor's tent, and in a
surprised manner asked me Avhy no report had been
received from the Baltiraore Battalion. I Avas con
founded. He said, moreover, that General Twiggs
and General Taylor had both .sent to Captain Steuart,
saying that they Avere Availing for his report.
I hurried to the tent of Steuart, and, in as quiet a
manner as I could, inquired if he had not sent in his
official report to headquarters. He hesitated, and
then ansAvered that he liad done so. I then asked if
he had mentioned my name. He replied that he had
done so.
I told him that I had heard differently, but must
content my,self Avith his assurance. Still not satisfied,
I called upon him again in the course of the day, Avhen
he .Tptiin assured me that he had .sent in his report and
had mentioned my conduct.
It never occurred to me at the tirae to inquire by
Avhom he had sent it, but subsequent events gave me
good reason to believe that, even if sent, it had been
destroyed by the messenger, as it never reached Gen
eral Twiggs's headquarters.
There Avas one very bad raan and bad counselor
about Captain Steuart's headquarters.
If I had only had the presence of mind to have

142 MEMOIRS OF A
gone further, and traced the report, — for it was un
doubtedly written, as Steuart said, — I aa^ouM yet have
been in time for General Taylor's report ; but unfor
tunately it never entered my thoughts.
The foregoing report, from the copy in the Adju
tant's office, was subsequently published in the Bal
timore newspapers, and to some extent satisfied my
friends. The report is strictly and literally true, as far as it
goes, except that Ave remained in the city longer than
Captain Steuart reports ; but nothing Avhatever is
said of the movements of the battalion on the second
and third days, although he led the battalion on the
third day and Avas present for duty on the second
day of the battle ; and everything done by the bat
talion on the first day after the fall of Watson, except
that I formed the battalion and remained on the field,
is quietly ignored.

CHAPTER X.
CAPITULATIOIsr OF MONTEREY.
In his dispatches to the government. General
Taylor wrote concerning the terms granted the garri
son by the capitulation :
" It will be seen that tbe terms granted the Mexican garrison
are less rigorous than those first imposed. The gallant defense
of the town, and the fact of a recent change of government in
Mexico believed to be favorable to the interests of peace, induced
me to concur with the commission in these terms, whicb will, I

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. I43
trust, receive the approval of the government. The latter con
sideration also prorapted the convention for a temporary suspen
sion of hostilities. Though scarcely warranted by my instructions,
yet the change of affairs since tbose instructions were issued
seemed to warrant tbis course. I beg to be advised as early as
practicable whether I have met the views of the government in
these particulars."
The Honorable William L. Marcy, Secretary of
War, replied in a letter dated " War Department,
Washington, October 13th, 1846" (see Ex. Doc. No.
60, page 355, etc.) :
"Your coramunications of the 22d, 23d, and 25th ult., detail
ing the operations of the army under your immediate command
at Monterey, have been received. The skill, courage, and gal
lant conduct displayed on that occasion by the troops under your
command, both regulars and volunteers, have added glory to our
arms, and merit frora the government and people of the United
States the warmest expressions of gratitude and praise.
"In relation to the terms of the capitulation of Monterey, the
President instructs rae to say that he regrets it was not deemed
advisable to insist upon the terms which you had first proposed.
Tbe circumstances which dictated doubtless justified the change.
Tbe President, uninformed of these circurastances, does not know
in what degree the recent change in tbe government of Mexico
may have contributed to tbis result. Certain it is, however, that
tbe present rulers of that republic have not yet given any evidence
that they are 'favorable to the interests of peace.' Of tbis you
will have already been informed by ray dispatch of the 22d ult.
"Tbe governraent did not contemplate, as you will perceive
by the tenor of the dispatches from this department, that there
would probably happen any contingency in the prosecution of
the war in whicb it would be expedient to suspend hostilities
before the offer of acceptable terms of peace."
As this subject of the capitulation Avas the general
topic of conversation after the fall of Monterey, I

144 31E310IRS OF A
have chosen to present the views of the government
before making any reflections of my OAvn.
The army Avas very much divided in opinion ; those
opposed to its terms as being too lenient increased in
numbers with the number of days elapsing from the
surrender of the town. At that tirae, and Avhen the
terms granted the a-arrison Avere first made knoAA^n, I
hazard the assertion that not one hundred men
thought them too liberal, although a very large num
ber became dissatisfied when they saAv the Mexicans
marching out, carrying Avith them the very battery
of tAvelve-pounders from the citadel Avhich had caused
us so much loss. I confess that I did not like tliis,
and felt uncomfortable at the sight; but I had been,
Avas, and ara noAv unequiA'ocally of the opinion that
General Taylor's Avisdora in securing the surrender of
the tOAvn and fortifications of Monterey Avas as great
as his courage and boldness in the attack upon it.
A.side from the clairas of humanity, the helpless con
dition of the Avomen and children, our OAvn disparitv
of force and distance frora base of supplies, I saAv
enough of the Mexican troops Avhen they raarched
out, to satisfy me that they only lacked one daring
leader to have raade their escape or a successful de-
fen.'^e. They AA^ent out sullenly, defiantly, and their
attitude Avas such as to create a AA'ell-founded appre
hension that a colli.*ion Avould occur between them
and our troops who lined the roadside. This behavior
increased the feeling against the capitulation; and
Avlien it became knoAvn that the adrainistration had
manifested its disapproval, its opponents largely out
numbered its defenders. Another cause, to which I

31 A RYLAND VOLUNTEER. 14 5
shall hereafter refer, added to the clamors against
General Taylor and fault-finding Avith his conduct
toAvard the Mexicans ; but it came from those who
Avould not have followed him when he bared his breast
in the shock of battle, and Avho Avere too heartless
to appreciate the nobility of character possessed by
their chief. It is Avorthy of note that I met with no
one Avho had been in the assaults of the first day on
the eastern defenses that found fault with the terras,
and I could tell, as soon as I heard an opinion ex
pressed, Avhat part the speaker had taken, and to Avhat
corps he belonged, in the battles Avhich resulted in the
surrender of MontereA'-.
It Avas a long time after this before I became ac
quainted Avith the vicAvs of the general ; and, as I
have never seen them in print except in a public
document, it is due to his memory to aid in their
preservation. I give the letter entire, as it can be found in the
Executive Document before referred to, pages 359, 360.
" Headquarters Army of Occupation',
" Camp near Monterey, November 8, 1846.
" Sir, — In reply to so much of the communication of the Secre
tary of War, dated October 13th, as relates to the reasons which
induced the convention resulting in the capitulation of Monterey,
I have the honor to submit the following remarks :
"The convention presents two distinct points :
" First. — Tbe permission granted the Mexican army to retire
with tbeir arms, etc.
" Secondly. — The temporary cessation of hostilities for the term
of eight weeks. I shall remark on these in order.
" The force with which I advanced on Monterey was limited,
by causes beyond my control, to about six thousand men. With
this force, as every military man raust adrait who has seen the
10

146 3IE310IRS OF A
ground, it was entirely impossible to invest Monterey so closely
as to prevent the escape of the garrison. Although the raain
coramunication with the interior was in our possession, yet one
route was open to the Mexicans throughout tbe operations, and
could not be closed, as were also other rainor tracks and passes
through the raountains. Had we therefore insisted on more
rigorous terms than those granted, the result would have been
the escape of the body of the Mexican force, with the destruc
tion of its artillery and magazines; our only advantage the cap
ture of a few prisoners of war, at the expense of valuable lives
and much damage to the city. Tbe consideration of humanity
was present to ray mind during the conference which led to the
convention, and outweighed in my judgment the doubtful advan
tages to be gained by a resumption of the attack upon the town.
This conclusion has been fully confirmed by an inspection of tbe
enemy's position and means since the surrender. It was dis
covered tbat his principal magazine, containing an immense
amount of powder, was in the cathedral, completely exposed to
our shells from two directions. The explosion of this mass of
powder, whicb raust have ultimately resulted from a continuance
of the bombardment, would bave been infinitely disastrous, in
volving tbe destruction not only of the Mexican troops, but of
non-combatants, and even our own people, had we pressed the
attack. "In regard to tbe temporary cessation of hostilities, the fact
tbat we are not at this moment (within eleven days of the termi
nation of tbe period fixed by the convention) prepared to move
forward in force, is a sufficient explanation of the military reasons
which dictated this suspension of arms. It parah'zed the enemv
during a period when, frora the want of necessary means, we
could not possibly move. I desire distinctly to state, and to
call the attention of the authorities to the fact, that, with all dili
gence in breaking mules and setting up wagons, tbe first wagons
in addition to our original train from Corpus Christi (and but
one hundred and twenty-five in number) reached my headquarters
on the sarae day with tbe Secretary's coraraunication of October
13th, viz., the 2d instant. At the date of tbe surrender of Mon
terey, our force had not more tban ten days' rations; and even

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 147
now, with all our endeavors, we have not raore than twenty-five.
The task of fighting and beating the enemy is among the least
"difficult that we encounter ; the great (piestion of supplies neces
sarily controls all tbe operations in a country like this. At the
date of the convention I could not, of course, have foreseen that
the department would direct an important detachraent from ray
command without consulting me, or without waiting the result
of tbe main operations under my orders.
"I have touched the prominent military points involved in
the convention of Monterey. There were other considerations
which weighed with .the commissioners in framing, and with
myself in approving, the articles of the convention. In tbe con
ference with General Ampudia, I was distinctly told by him that
be had invited it to spare tbe effusion of blood, and because
General Santa Anna had declared himself favorable to peace.
I knew that our governraent bad raade propositions to that of
Mexico to negotiate, and I deeraed tbat the change of govern
ment in tbat country since niy la^t instructions fully warranted
me in entertaining considerations of policy. My grand motive
in moving forward with very limited supplies had been to in
crease the inducements of the Mexican governraent to negotiate
for peace. ^Vhatever may be tbe actual views or disposition of
the Mexican rulers, or of General Santa Anna, it is not unknown
to the government that I bad the very best reason for believing
the statement of General Ampudia to be true. It was my
opinion at tbe time of tbe convention, and it has not been
changed, that the liberal treatment of tbe Mexican array, and
tbe suspension of arms, would exert none but a favorable influ
ence in our bebalf.
" The result of the entire operation has been to throw the
Mexican array back more than tbree hundred railes to the city
of San Luis Potosi, and to open tbe country to us as far as we
choose to penetrate it, up to the same point.
" It has been my purpose in ibis coniniunication not so rauch
to defend tbe convention frora the censure which 1 deeply regret
to find implied in the Secretary's letter, as to show that it was
not adopted without cogent rea-ons, most of whicb occur of
themselves to tbe minds of all '.\bo are acquainted with the con-

148 31 E MO IRS OF A
dition of things here. To that end I beg that it m.ay be laid
before the General-in-Chief and tbe Secretary of War.
" I ara, sir, very respectfully, "Your obedient servant,
" (Signed) " Z. Taylor,
" Major-General U. S. A. Commanding.
" To the Adjutant- General of the .Army, Washington, D. C."
Whilst I fully agree Avith the plain but cogent reasons
so simply stated by General Taylor to be laid before
the Secretary of War, I cannot and did not coincide
with the view entertained by him, "that the liberal
treatment of the Mexican army, and the suspension
of arms, Avould exert none but a favorable influence in
our behalf" I think that the general was clearly in
error in this idea, and that his mistake arose from the
impression Avhich prevailed at his headquarters that
the Mexicans were desirous of making peace. I haA'e
heretofore said, and now repeat it, that up to this time
I had found none in favor of yielding one iota of the
demand for the evacuation of their territory by our
troops ; but that Taylor gained more than did the
Mexicans by the suspension of arms, is too clear for
controversy, and the Mexicans, being deceived as to
our supplies and means of transportation, were the
losers by their own proposition, upon which Ampudia
prided himself very much for his diplomacy.
But motives of state policy, though in the mind of
General Taylor and duly considered, were not the
main reasons for granting the terms he did ; these
were purely military, conjoined with a strong feeling
of humanity. His sentiment of pity for the helpless
inhabitants of Monterey coincided with his opinion.

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 149
as a military chief, that the actual status of things
justified letting go the garrison for the sake of the
other and manifest adA^antages resulting to his arms
from the acquisition of the city, its munitions, and its
fortifications. Whatever might be the future policy
of his OAvn or the Mexican government, he had cap
tured the capital of an important State of the Mexican
Eepublic, had strengthened his base for further offen
sive movements, and had added very greatly to the
prestige of American valor by inspiring confidence in
the steadiness of his volunteer forces. How fully the
latter vicAv was sustained by the result of further
operations, history is familiar with, and Buena Vista
strengthened the confidence Avhich those who knew
him entertained for the judgment as Avell as the mili
tary capacity of General Taylor.
In this connection 1 beg attention to the official
dispatch of General Ampudia, Avhich must be read with
the previous proclamations issued by hira, to be prop-
erly appreciated.
" Official dispatch of General Ampudia to the 3Iexican Secretary
of War, announcing the surrender of 31onterey.
"Most Excellent Sir, — After a brilliant defense, in the
course of wbich the enemy was repulsed with the loss of fifteen
hundred men from various posts, be succeeded in possessing him
self of the heights commanding the bishop's palace, and another
to the south of it, and likewise a detached breastwork called the
Teneria, and continuing his attacks through the houses, which
he pierced in a direction toward the centre of the city, be
succeeded in posting himself within half-gunshot of the principal
square, where the troops were posted, who suffered much from
the hollow shot. Under tbese circumstances I was requested by
various principal officers to come to such terras as would dimin-

150 31E3IOIRS OF A
ish our losses; for to open our way with the bayonet, surrounded
as we were by intrenched enemies, would have resulted in the
dispersal of the troops, and nothing of the materiel would have
been saved. Tfaese considerations having been weighed by rae,
I also took into view what tbe city suffered, and would suffer
frora the attacks by the piercing of the houses as well as tbe
destruction by tbe bombs, the scarcity of araraunition which was
beginning to be felt, the provisions which we were losing as the
eneray's lines approached the centre, tbe distance from our sup
plies, and, finally, tbat to protract this state of things for two or
three days, even if it were possible to do so, could not end in a
triumph ; and I consented to open propositions which resulted in
tbe annexed terms of capitulation.*
" Your excellency will perceive that they preserve the honor
of the nation and tbat of the army, and it is to be observed tbat
if they do not grant us as much as was perhaps expected, that
of itself proves tbe superiority of tbe enemy, — not in valor, wbich
he displayed in most of the combats, but in bis position within
the squares of pierced masonry, which surrounded tbe square
and cut off any supplies of provisions, wood, or other articles
necessary to subsistence.
"With the greatest regret the army withdraws from their
capital abuudantly watered with its blood, leaving under the
guaranties of the promises of the American generals the severelv
wounded and the neighboring population of the State, whose
civil authorities will continue in the exercise of their functions.
To-morrow I shall continue my march to Saltillo, where I will
await tbe orders of the Supreme Government; and in commu
nicating this to you I have the honor to reiterate the assurances
of my highest respect.
" God and liberty.
"(Signed) "Pedro de Ampudia.
"Headquarters ix Monterey-, September 25, 1846."
My desire has been to place this matter of the cap
ture of Monterey and the incidents connected there-
* These have already been given.

3IA RYLAND VOLUNTEER. 15I
with fairly on record ; I have endeavored to do so,
and upon revicAV am Avilling to let it stand as true.
Much of Avhat I have written pas.sed under my own
knowledge, and Avhen I consulted contemporaneous
authority I sought that Avhose authenticity could not
be questioned.

CHAPTER XI.
i:^ CAMP AT WALMUT SPRINGS.
General Taylor established his headquarters at
Monterey in the woods at Walnut Springs, and the
troops were camped pretty much as they halted for the
bivouac of the 19th of Septeraber, in, around, and
about this Avood of San Doraingo. The Baltimore
Battalion selected a new camp a little distance from
their bivouac, and not far from the raodest tent of
the general comraanding the array of occupation.
Immediately in front of the general's tent, — there be
ing an open space of sorae extent, — the Mexicans from
the surrounding country, w^ho, Avith that instinct char
acteristic of all peoples, kneAv that Old Zack was their
friend, had quietly established a market for the sale
of their products directly under his eyes, and which
he perraitted to continue as long as we were in carap
near Monterey. They felt that they Avere safe there ;
and I ara sorry to say it was about the only safe
place for them within a circuit of twenty miles.
Already, Avithin a few days after the surrender, a
series of wanton outrages had been perpetrated upon

152 ME3I0IRS OF A
the inoffensive inhabitants, Avhich caused the liveliest
sense of indignation among our best troops, and pro
voked bloody retaliation from the Mexicans. The
matter was growing serious; it was no uncommon
thing for several dead Mexicans to be found lying in
the road, daily, between camp and toAvn, and our
men Avould be assailed on their way to camp from
town, and several had been seriously wounded. My
Second Sergeant, Benjamin F. Brand, was dreadfully
wounded betAveen toAvn and camp by a gang of Mexi
can desperadoes ; this Avas followed in a fcAv days by
a Avholesale slaughter of Mexicans, but not by our
men. The general sentiment of the army was one of
horror, and a resolute determination to put an end to
this state of things. In the mean time. Governor
Morales, of Monterey, addressed a note to General
Taylor, saying " that multitudes of complaint have
been made to this government against excesses com
mitted upon the persons and property of Mexicans,
and that he had just been inforraed that three of their
citizens had been killed," etc.
To this the general replied that it was with regret
that he learned there was just cause of complaint,
founded upon the grounds stated by his excellency ;
but that General Worth had been invested with
authority to adopt measures to maintain order in the
city, and he hoped all cause of further complaints
would cease. I was an eyewitness to some of these
transactions, and more than ever adraired the char
acter of Taylor for the active steps he took to prevent
a continuance of these brutalities, both by friend and
foe ; and though not altogether successful, they became

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 153
of less frequent occurrence, and a better feeling grew
up between our people and the Mexicans.
It was the strong action taken by Taylor in this
relation that, as I have before alluded to, added to
the clamors on the part of some against the policy
which dictated the terras of capitulation ; but the old
general Avas as firm in the camp as in the field, and
he did what Avas right.
We soon commenced drilling, and, jointly with the
regulars with whom we were brigaded, advanced in
our military knoAvledge. Our camps were gradually
brought into good condition, our guards well instructed,
and picket duty carefully attended to. Each day
added to the conviction that the Avar had but begun,
and our duty as soldiers was now the business of the
day. Our table was scantily supplied with govern
raent rations : this, hoAvever, made the delicious fruit
Avhich Ave got in abundance more prized. Bread, eggs,
oranges, lemons, pomegranates, grapes, and bananas
were brought daily into camp, and now and then a
cow, and then a goat, were brought to be milked at
the tent-door, to the great gratification of our men. It
was growing cold, fires being very desirable at night,
and. as we had no candles or oil, Ave passed our even
ings around the camp-fires, talking and gossiping as
only soldiers talk, and weaving that chain of camara
derie knoAvn only to soldiers and sailors.
We have just learned that Ampudia has halted at
Saltillo, of course issued a proclamation, and, after
calling on the people to take up arms, says that Santa
Anna in person is coming to direct military opera
tions against the invaders. So be it.

154 MEMOIRS OF A
Our men begin to need clothing, particularly shoes ;
the long marches have been very destructive to the
latter, and many of the men have made sandals from
raw hide, Avhich look right Avell ; on parade, there are
a good many Avithout jackets, yet they look soldier
like and trim Avith their cross- and waist-belts.
We have just learned that a mail for our army has
been captured by the Mexicans and sent to the city
of Mexico. Rumor says, moreover, that General
Taylor received a polite note from Ampudia, inform
ing him of the fact. We have been for several days
thinking of nothing but the arriA^al of this mail, as
none of us had heard frora home since our leaving
there : our letters, we were constantly told, were lying
at Point Isabel awaiting an escort; and now they
Avere under the escort of the eneray. I think this
day was a bad day for Mexicans ; the general feeling
being, Avhat I heard a soldier say, " He Avould just
like to have the eating of a Mexican." Don't take a
soldier's letters if you want to keep on his best side.
It is getting very cold at night ; still not a candle to
be had for love or raoney, though there is very little
of the latter. We are beginning to grumble, Avhich
is a good sign of health and progress in army life.
We have no battalion drills, which is bad ; company
drills twice a day; squad drills at all hours; guard-
mount, dress-parade, five daily roll-calls, then tattoo
and taps ; this is our routine.
Hurrah ! I have received some prize-money, or
rather loot, in the shape of cigars. I received tAvo
hundred cigars, — my share, as captain, of those taken
at the capture of Monterey, and condemned as public

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 15.5
property. I really think that at the time I Avould
have preferred them to as many hard dollars ; now I
think differently.
Nothing can exceed the beauty of the surrounding
scenery. The mountains are grand, especially at sun
rise and sunset. I have seen the two peaks of the
spur called from its shape the " Comanche Saddle,"
connected Avith a light strip of white cloud, and as
the rising sun Avould strike it fleeces were throAvn
upAvard like the railing on a bridge, presenting the
appearance of a hand-railing up a stairway, and
making the Avhole look as if a bridge had been built
up there for pedestrians to Avalk Avith safety across
the chasm between the peaks.
May's Second Dragoons are noAV passing ray tent ;
Bragg's Artillery are drilling on my left ; the band of
the First Infantry is practicing its usual morning ex
ercises, Avhile its drums and fifes are off in the chap
arral at their lesson ; the dead march is being played
by the superior band of the Fourth Infantry at the
head of one of the corapanies following a corarade to
the graA'e ; croAvds of soldiers are passing and repass
ing with the listlessness of men off duty, and with the
constant interchange of rumors reraind rae of the
scenes I have witnessed in and around the old
Chronicle office at Baltiraore when we were waiting
to hear from beyond the Cayuga bridge, in the old days
of Avaiting to hear good news from New York, and
Avhich, by the by, rarely ever came to our Aving of the
political army.
On yesterday we buried Kelly, of Company F,
Avho had died from the wounds received on the 21st

156 3IEM0IRS OF A
ultimo. I had many reasons to feel very sad, and
followed his remains, which were Avrapped in a
blanket, to their place of burial Avith more than usual
mourning. Our single fife and drum Avere playing
the dead march Avhen we passed in front of the First
Infantry Band practicing ; it Avas playing " Dance,
Boatmen, Dance," and involuntarily the escort and
procession stepped off- to the music of its quickstep,
destroying the cadence if not the entire solemnity
of the parade. How forcibly this incident struck us,
and how painfully and rapidly the smile Avhich it
occasioned Avas changed to sternness of step and de
meanor, Avill not soon- be forgotten by those Avho were
at that soldier's funeral. What a mockery to sing "A
Soldier's Life is ahvays Gay" !

CHAPTER XII.
SIGHT-SEEING IN MONTEREY.
I HAVE been into toAvn, sight-seeing. As may be
well supposed, my steps were first directed to the
corner Avhere I had seen so many officers and men
fall. It looked very natural ; the houses tenantless,
doors open, walls torn and tattered, and all, save the
dead and dying, the din and uproar of battle, very
much as it appeared to me on the morning of the 21st.
I found here some half-dozen Araerican soldiers, who
like myself had come to visit a well-remembered
locality. They belonged to our brigade, and we

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 157
spoke quietly together of incidents of battle which
had been shared in coraraon, and which had made us
friends without knowing a difference of rank. Frora
here I Avent up the street toward the bridge-head, and
examined carefully the line of defenses, and more
particul.arly the barricades. I learned a lesson in
constructing them from these erected in the streets of
Monterey. I do not think they could be iraproved or
made more practically useful. I found the streets
paved Avith square basaltic rocks, the sidewalks Avith
large even flagstones. In many of the streets the
pavement was torn up for defensive purposes, sand
bag parapets on every house. Avails grenelled, breast
works and bastions at every corner. All who beheld
these defenses were amazed that they were abandoned ;
it appeared to me, however, that they Avere croivded
too much — too close together, and I Avas not surprised
to learn, as I did to-day frora a Mexican, that a large
number of their infimtry had not fired a shot. This
is not improbable, looking to the number so impru
dently massed about the centre of the city, and who
were kept doing nothing for Avant of a general.
I visited the cathedral, and Avas surprised to find
so large and imposing a church. Its exterior and
interior are worthy of an extended visit. Sorae of
the paintings appeared to me handsorae, Avhile others
were ugly ; the main altar Avas really grand, and
that peculiar religious tout ensemble characteristic
of Catholic Avorship Avas very perceptible in this
venerable building. I also visited the pride of the
toAvn, the palace of General Arista, a very Avealthy
citizen of Monterey. Our wounded filled its corri-

158 MEMOIRS OF A
dors and marble-paved halls, around whose cots heavy
curtains, mirrors, vases, paintings, etc. were hanging
and arranged in careless profusion. The gardens and
baths Avere fitted up in luxurious style, and the
orange and the pomegranate mingled their perfume
with the SAveet rose of our own dear land. All Avas
attractive, nay, enchanting.
I clambered up the hill on the west of the town to
the building called the Obispada, or Bishop's Palace.
I Avent to the Avindow frora which I had seen the first
of the eneray leap when Worth's troops carried it by
assault. The view from this windoAv was charming,
— the Avhole plain and the town nestling in its lap
spread out before me; our carap and the road by
Avhich Ave had approached the city Avere also visible,
and at my feet I could look into the old gray fort,
Avhose guns had been carried off, but Avhose unmis
takable visage was that of a veteran proud of his
proAA'ess. It had a right to be, as all Avill bear witness who
were Avithin its range on the three days of last month.
The raain plaza is, however, the great place of
attraction. Here are already located billiard-saloons,
restaurants, and drinking-saloons ; in the centre a
raarket is held daily, around which our soldiers are
thronging, or else inspecting the cannon surrendered
by the eneray, Avhich are ranged on one of the sides
of the square. Some of these pieces are of recent
English manufacture and in excellent condition, as
are also their carriages ; others are old Spanish bronze
or copper guns capable of good service ; some are very
old, and look as if they had been used by Cortez ;
altogether there are forty-two guns.

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 159
Having a tAventy-four-hour leave of absence, I went
to see an American circus to-night, the performance
at which took place in the Mexican cockpit. There
Avere a great many of our officers and soldiers present,
— some feAV Mexicans ; we had a grand entree by the
Avhole troupe, and then the usual ring cereraonies ; but
the feature of the evening was the riding by Dandy
Jack upon the celebrated pony Comanche. The
monkey's face Avas as familiar as if he were, or had
been, in the ring at Front Street, and the shouts
Avith Avhich our men greeted his horsemanship must
have been heard at carap. I noticed that the Mexi
cans Avere more interested in the contortions of the
india-rubber man than in anything else exhibited.
During the evening quite an uproar was occasioned
by a heavy fall of rain ; the galleries of the circus
Avere uncovered, — open to the heavens ; up here the
rank and file Avere accommodated, and, as the rain
began to Avet them, they clamored for shelter. The
manager agreed that they raight find places beneath
the boxes in wliich the officers Avere standing; they
descended the ladder by Avhich they had reached their
elevation, and got under the plank flooring upon
which we stood. Here they still coraplained of being
uncomfortable, and a laughable scene of confusion
ensued, the pit — in fact, the Avhole circus — becoming
so tangled up that the cloAvn announced frora the
now deserted gallery that, owing to the inclemency of
the weather, the evening's performances Avere ended.
They were for this place, but not — in to\A'n.
It is astonishing the nuraber of men, non-com
batants, that sprang up, as if by magic, around this

160 MEMOIRS OF A
army of occupation. Where they came from so
suddenly after the surrender, nobody could tell, but
really the place was filled with them. American
stores, American goods, American drinks, and Ameri
can faro had driven out Mexican shopkeepers and
gamblers, and where, but a few days ago, none could
be seen except in uniform, are noAV crowded civilians
of every tongue and people. They follow the army,
never precede it; they belong nowhere, — no, I am
wrong : if asked where they are from, Avhen soliciting
perraission " to open," the}^ invariably ansAver, Neiv
Orleans, further than Avhich no man knoweth to the
contrary, and don't Avant to knoAV, for you had better
not press your question.

CHAPTER XIII.
DEATH OF CAPTAIN RIDGELY.
October 20, 1846. We have not heard from the
United States since the news of the surrender must
have reached there, and we are all anxiety to know
Avhat the government will do next. Rumors are very
abundant, not of Avhat we are going to do, but Avliat
the Mexicans are doing, and old stories revamped
daily are flooding the camps. One day Ave hear that
Santa Anna is Avithin ten miles of Monterey Avith
fifteen thousand men ; on the next we hear that the
Mexican Congress has made peace with the United
States. Every shade and degree between these two

31 A RYLAND VOLUNTEER. 161
extremes are hourly gossiped and discussed Avith an
earnestness that Avould be laughable, Avere it not real.
On this day I Avrote to my parents a letter, from
Avhich I make an extract verbatim, as it proved to be
a prophecy: " My own opinion is that the best plan (for conducting the
war) will be to march to Tampico and operate in that quarter;
for it would be suicidal to advance to San Luis Potosi with tbe
army which we have ; for there is no doubt but that a large force
is there to oppose us, and, even if we should drive it before us,
we would still be a long distance from the capital, where alone
tbe terms of a peace can be dictated. The plan of the campaign
should be to push on to Tampico, obtain tbe co-operation of tbe
fleet, reduce tbis important town, and tben, ho ! for the city of
Mexico by the way of Yera Cruz ; and I should not be surprised
if this were the very plan of operation adopted."
If I had been in the War Department at Washing
ton, and in the councils of the governraent, at the
time I Avrote this letter, I could not have framed a
more exact plan of Avhat was subsequently done than
is embraced above.
But as yet we had heard nothing, and the armis
tice Avas still in force.
October 31. I have a sad duty now to perform, —
to record the death of my friend Captain Randolph
Ridgely. On last Sunday, the 25th inst., he sent over a horse
to my carap and a message that he wanted me to
accompany him to town, and I agreed to ride with
him. In the course of the morning he told me that
he had received an invitation to dine with Lieu
tenant Mackall, of the army, coraraanding a Battery
of Light Artillery, and that I Avas also invited ; he also
11

162 3IE310IRS OF A
informed me where Mackall's quarters Avere, so that,
if we got separated, we might meet there.
Our horses had been put away in the yard of Mr.
Lloyd Tilghman's sutler store, and when I Avent to get
mine, I Avas told that Ridgely had just left and that
I could overtake him, as he was on the road to Cap
tain Mackall's Battery. I soon saw a croAvd, and to
my distress learned that Captain Ridgely had fallen
from his horse. I have before said that the streets of
Monterey were paved with basaltic rocks, and many
had been torn up to form barricades ; in the main
street or road to Saltillo, the street through which
Ridgely Avas riding, this was especially the case.
One of these barricades had been thrown doAvn, and
the stones Avhich formed it scattered loosely about ;
Ridgely's horse stumbled over one of these stones, and
fell so quickly that Captain Ridgely Avas thrown, and
his head striking the sharp corner of another of these
rocks, his skull was fractured, and he remained insen
sible until his death, on last Tuesday night. I had
parted Avith him not an half-hour previously, in the
full enjoyment of life, health and strength, and now
I could not realize that though living he was uncon
scious. Everything that friends and medical skill
could do Avas done to save his life, for we knew that
in his death one of the most gallant men of the army
Avould hav^e perished. He died, regretted and esteemed
by the whole array; and the unprecedented respect
paid to his reraains, the touching tributes of affection
showered upon his grave, evidenced the love and the
admiration of men who had fought side by side Avith
the hero. Every officer of standing — regular and

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 163
volunteer — was present: Generals Taylor, Worth,
Quitman, Hamer and Persifer F. Smith, with their
respective staffs; artillery and infantiw paraded, colors
draped, drums beating the funeral march, and as the
body Avas taken frora the gun-carriage which had borne
it, an audible sob heaA^ed the breasts of his corarades.
General Taylor stood iraraediately in front of rae,
and I saw him Aveeping, and his strong frarae shaking
with the extremity of his grief; so it was with many,
and amore solemn occasion Avas never Avitnessed than
the burial of Ridgely. Maryland has now given of
her sons Ringgold, Watson and Ridgely ! May those
who have to follow them forget not her glory.
I give place now most willingly to the following
handsome tribute, Avritten by Captain William S.
Henry, of the Third Infantry, and Avhich raay be
found in his Carapaign Sketches, pages 234-5 :
" His body was brought out to the camp of his company, and
buried with funeral honors on the evening of the 28th of October.
His company escorted the remains, and the Baltimore Battalion
attended as mourners. Tbe procession was swelled by nearly
all tbe officers of tbe army. Colonel Childs read the service for
the dead, and three guns were fired over his grave. Dark
clouds hung o'er the mountain tops ; mists Avere in tbe valleys ;
and all nature seemed in mourning for the departed hero. Cap
tain Ridgely graduated fromWest Point in 1837. He was a
native of Baltimore, and from a faraily identified with the State
of Maryland. He served with distinguished credit in the battles
of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palraa, and in the storming of
Monterey. For his gallantry in the action of the 9th of May,
he was brevetted a captain and appointed an assistant p,djutant-
general ; tbe latter appointment be accepted, the brevet be de
clined. He, as well as his friends, thought if be was deserving
of a brevet for the 9th, he was equally so for the Stb of May.

164 31EM0IRS OF A
It seems strange he should die by such means, after passing
through three battles.
"If any officer has particularly distinguished himself, it is
the lamented Ridgely. His dauntless courage and reckless ex
posure of person, combined with the most perfect coolness and
judgment in the hottest fire, won golden opinions for him from
all. Those who knew him in the social circle can well appreci
ate his loss. A briffht star is extinguished ! He will never re-
turn to pluck fresh honors for, and add new lustre to, the gallantry
and chivalry of the service. Strange and unfathomable fate ! He
died from a fall from a horse, than whom none could ride with
more grace and fearlessness, nor manage with more judgment
and dexterity. He was probably the best rider in the world, an
accomplished and polished gentleraan, and one of the most heroic
and ffallant officers of the array."

CHAPTER XIV.
END OF THE ARMISTICE : GENERAL SANTA ANNA FOR WAR.
On the 2d of November, Major James Graham ar
rived at carap from the United States Avith dispatches
from Washington. All Avas excitement, and rumor
Avas trumpet-tongued ; it soon became knoAvn that the
government had officially notified General Taylor that
it disapproved of the armistice, and it Avas supposed
had instructed him to terminate it. On the Sth the
folloAving general orders were promulgated :
" Headquarters, Army of Occupation.
¦" Camp near Monterey, November 8, 1846.
" General Orders, No. 139.]
" Lender instructions frora the Department of War, tbe general-
in-cbief of the Mexican forces has been duly notified that the tem-

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 165
porary cessation of hostilities agreed upon at the convention at
Monterey will cease and determine frora the l.Sth instant, after
which date the Araerican forces will be free to cross the line of
demarcation established in said convention.
" Saltillo, the capital of the State of Coahuila, will be occu
pied by the United States troops."
*******
Then follows the order of march.
On the 6th, Major Grahara had been sent forward
to give notice to the Mexican commanding general of
the orders of our government; and on the 12th, just
as General Taylor Avas preparing to raarch in the
same direction, he received notice that a special bearer
of dispatches Avas en route to Monterey. He awaited
his arrival, and Major Robert M. McLane, of Balti
more, presented himself direct from the seat of govern
ment Avith important instructions to the general.
These, however, did not prevent the contemplated
advance toAvard Saltillo, and on the 13th General
Worth marched with his division, accompanied by
General Taylor.
As to the tenor of the dispatches, we know nothing
positively, for old Taylor is as quiet as the grave; but
ruraor Avill have it that the army is to go to Vera
Cruz, and that our division will remain on this line,
as it Avas the most cut up inthe capture of Monterey.
We are at this time drilling three hours a day in
battalion drill, Avith the four companies of the First
Infantry, and one hour at company drill; our vol
unteers are pretty generally disgusted with volunteer
ing, for it is no child's play^ the daily labor now
being done in earnest. Our camp is all bustle and
activity, for although no one believes we will move

166 MEMOIRS OF A
for a Aveek or so, we yet have orders to be ready to
march at a moment's warning.
I was much astonished and gratified when I heard
of the arrival of Major McLane, and immediately
called on him. I was very much pleased to see him,
and Ave had a pleasant interview ; his citizen's clothes
and city air brought home fresh to my heart, and his
kind answers to my raany questions made me very
happy. My ! my ! this love of home ! How strong
a sentiment in the human breast !
General Taylor passed through our camp to-day,
on his way to Saltillo ; May's* Dragoons were his
escort ; as this small body of troops marched along,
a general interest seemed manifested for" Old Zack, as
the raen farailiarly called him among themselves.
There was an unmistakable anxiety felt for his safety,
for the carelessness in the exposure of his person to
danger Avas Avell known by the Baltiraore Battalion.
Our sick list is increasing, and a very general desire
to raove prevails ; the sun at mid-day is quite Avarm,
the nights cold, hence fever and ague is abundant.
The rumor of to-day Avas that Santa Anna is march
ing from San Luis Potosi toward Saltillo with twenty
thousand raen ; he may have this many men, but he
is not such a fool as to drive or attempt to drive
Worth's Division back on Monterey. One of the
* Colonel Charles A. May: this gallant soldier was a native
of the city of Washington, District of Columbia. He served in
the Florida war: was brevetted major "for gallant service at
Palo Alto," lieutenant-colonel " for gallant and highly distin
guished conduct at Resaca de la Palraa," and colonel " for gallant
and meritorious conduct in battle of Buena Yista."

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. IQJ
camp jests for the last fortnight has been to inquire,
" When did you hear frora General Wool ?" there
being an opinion prevalent that he is inarching sorae
where in the Avilderness, hunting for the "array of
occupation." The soldiers have got hold of it, and
it amuses them greatly. I think from all I can learn
that there is more truth than fancy in the story. It
seems that he Avas sent out to effect a junction Avith
Taylor for some ulterior object, but that the geogra
phy of the country Avas unknoAvn, and a mistake
made in the route of raarch. I expect that the sol
diers have got hold of the right story, or they would
not liaA^e so much fun in inquiring after him.
It is rumored to-day that the  Regiment intends
burning the town of Marin in revenge for the murder
of tAvo of their men ; a heavy detail has just marched
in that direction with five days' rations. A Mexi
can was shot dead in his OAvn doorway yesterday ;
Lieutenant BoAvieAvas passing a feAv rainutes after the
shot, and was called in to see hira breathe his last.
We need General Taylor's presence all the tirae,
and I hope he Avill soon return, for the bad feeling
betAveen the soldiers and country people is reviving ;
there are ruraors of our comraunications with the Rio
Grande being endangered, and that nearly every train
is attacked on its way up.
General Taylor has returned from Saltillo, and Ave
Avill soon move toward the sea; there seeras no doubt
about this, the only anxiety now is what troops Avill
be left, and it has had one raost excellent effect. It
is well known that Taylor Avill select the troops to
accompany him ; he did this Avhen he cut loose from

168 ME3I0IRS OF A
the Rio Grande, and as there is almost a fever to
leave Monterey the troops are on their very best
behavior for fear that their corps will be left.
On his road to Saltillo, General Taylor received an
ansAver to his communication informing the Me.xicans
of the cessation of the armistice. Sure enough. General
Santa Anna Avas in command, for the note to Taylor
was from him. The tone of this letter may be seen in
the single extract that he (Taylor) " ought to discard
all ideas of peace Avhile a single North American
treads in arms the territory of this republic, or while
hostile squadrons remain in front of her ports."
From this it may be inferred that General Taylor
had expressed a hope for peace; but Santa Anna's
voice Avas still for Avar, and this was just the differ
ence between the two men.
I Avent over to the market this morning to buy
some oranges ; having made my purchase, I Avas re
turning with an armful of the fruit, when hearing a
call of " Captain," I looked and saw General Taylor
sitting on a camp-stool in front of his tent. I ap
proached him, and shaking me by the hand, he gave
me a seat ; I was so highly flattered that I hardly
knew what I did, except that I gave him an orange.
He asked me how we were getting on ; I told him.
He then said, " What could have induced Watson,
yourself, and others to come so far from horae to go
through so many dangers and hardships?" I replied.
He listened attentively, and when I liad got through
he shook his head, smiled, and said " he couldn't
understand it." Before I left, General Twiggs came
to where we Avere sitting, and made inquiry of

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 169
General Taylor as to when they would likely raarch,
and Avhether he should take the Baltimore Battalion
with him. General Taylor turned to rae and asked
whether I Avished to go. I replied, " General, we
always Avish to follow you." He ansAvered TAviggs,
" Certainly, take them along." I waited to hear no
more, but ran over to our camp to spread the joyous
intelligence.

CHAPTER XV.
APPOINTAIENT OF AIAJOR R. C. BUCHANAN, TJ. S. ARMY,
TO THE COAIAIAND OF THE BALTIMORE BATTALION.
November 24, 1846; an iraportant day in the cal
endar of the Baltimore Battalion. On this day, by
order of General Twiggs, comraanding the First Di
vision, Brevet-Major Robert C. Buchanan, of the
Fourth Infantry, U.S.A., Avas assigned to the cora
raand of the Battalion of Baltimore and Washington
Volunteers. On assuming command, this gallant and accom
plished soldier issued the following order :
" Headquarters Baltimore and Washington Battalion.
"Camp near Monterey, Mexico, November 25, 1846.
"Orders No. 1.]
" In obedience to special orders Xo. 5, dated Headquarters
First Division Army of Occupation, November 24, 1846, the
nndersicrned assumes the coraraand of this battalion.
" Called to the command by the voluntary act of tbe officers
belonging to it, his only method of showing his appreciation of

170 31EM0IRS OF A
the compliment will be by endeavoring to obtain for the bat
talion a name worthy of the State from which it comes.
" In this attempt he relies with confidence on the cordial co
operation of the officers and the good-will of the raen for his
success. With such assistance he has no fears for the result ;
without it he cannot hope to succeed.
"A native of Baltimore and a citizen of Washington, his only
desire is to make the battalion worthy of the cities which sent
it forth. "(Signed) "Robert C. Bochan.vn,
" Brevet-Major Fourth Infantry, Commanding.
" F. B. Schaeffer, " Adjutant."
This handsome inauguration of his command
elicited the hearty approval of the battalion, and
although there Avere some feAv Avho did not like a
regular officer being placed over them, yet the feeling
Avas almost unanimous in his favor. To Major
Buchanan I am under lasting obligations ; to him I
owe a lesson which was very difficult for me to learn
— that of obedience. It was he that made rae a sol
dier, and the respect which I still entertain for him
is based upon the knowledge of his integrity, his
honor, and his high military capacity, acquired through
hard service under his command and his teachings.
A graduate of the Military Acaderay of West Point,
a thorough soldier, a strict disciplinarian, a Mary-
lander by birth, he possessed in addition just Avhat
was needed to qualify him for his new duties with a
volunteer command — a remarkable equanimity of
temperament. Before we left the service he had as
handsome a command as a soldier need wish : all
were in harmony with him, and all appreciated the
value of the services he had rendered to every sol
dier of the battalion.

31 A RYLAND VOLUNTEER. I7I
We had now been in the service six months, during
three of which Ave had been in a brigade of regulars ;
and yet Ave Avere not soldiers. We Avere becoming
so, and the fortunate advent of Buchanan marked the
change into a higher grade of scholarship.
Drill, drill, drill; guard-mount and guard-duty;
morning reports. proA'ision returns, and inspection of
arms. All these duties require attention, and Avith
proper instruction they may be learned. We were
taught to do them properly, and no more pride is felt
in the acquisition of any knowledge than in that of
the railitary art.
On the 9th day of Deceraber, Mr. Sarauel S. Mills,
of Baltiraore, arrived in carap to convey the reraains
of Colonel Watson for burial in his natiA'e citv. He
brought with him an elegant coffin Avhich had been
provided by the generosity of his friends ; and also,
having learned at New Orleans the death of Captain
Ridgely, a lead coffin for his remains.
On the next day I was directed by special orders
to superintend the exhumation and the ceremony of
parade. I found Watson's body in a tolerable state
of preservation ; he Avas lying the centre one of three
bodies, the others were Lieutenants Hoskins and
Wood, of the Fourth Infantry. I knew Watson by
his two front teeth, beard, shoulder-straps, Avhich
were those of a major, and the new boots upon his
feet ; I had no doubt whatever of his identity. I took
a button from his uniform coat, and his reraains, in
closed in the coffin brought by Mr. Mills, Avere escorted
by the Baltiraore Battalion to the regimental parade
ground, Avhere a guard of honor was detailed to receive

172 31EM0IRS OF A
them. Here they remained until the exhumation of
Ridgely's body, Avhich was brought and placed side by
side with that of Watson ; our battalion and Ridgely's
Battery forming the escort and working-party. The
Avhole parade Avas solemn and interesting, Avitnessed
by very large numbers of the troops in camp ; and as
the bodies were placed in the wagon for transporta
tion homeAvard, a very general feeling of sadness
marked the departure of all that was mortal of two
of Maryland's gallant dead.
Before the arrival of Mr. Mills, Lieutenant Shover,
of the army, and I, had raade arrangeraents to send
home the remains of Ridgely with those of Watson,
and the thoughtful consideration of Mr. Mills had
relieved us from a great deal of concern about the
metallic coffin. Mr. Mills also brought coffins for the
bodies of Herman Thomas, of Harford County, killed
in the assault of the 22d of September, and George
Pearson, of Baltimore, a member of our battalion, who
had died from disease after our arrival at Monterey.
We are raaking preparations to march, though the
orders are not yet out ; another sifting process is
going on, the last being on the banks of the Rio
Grande three months ago. The sick and disabled are
to be either discharged or sent into general hospital.
The depletion now will not be so heavy as then, but
still I expect to have to turn down some five or six
of my corapany.
Time and exposure are thinning our ranks, but I am
learning to be more econoraical in wasting the strength
of the battalion by too raany discharges. It costs
the government too much to get a man here and fit

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 173
him to be of some use, to let him go on frivolous pre
tence, and I have learned to judge of the sufficiency
of the disability as basis for a discharge, without too
much dependence upon the surgeon's opinion. There
are tAvo influences constantly at Avork in reference to
these discharges, leaving out of consideration the sol
dier's claira: the one, the surgeon's Avish to diminish
the number of his sick ; the other, the captain's not to
diminish the strength of his corapany. I regard it as
one of the raost important of all the duties devolving
upon the captain of a company, this, of the extent
of his interference Avith the surgeons in matter of
discharges. It is a very delicate responsibility, and
army regulations do not meet my vicAvs upon this
subject. If the surgeon and the captain were alike
conscientious in sense of duty to their government,
there Avould be no trouble about the propriety of a
discharge; but I lean to the opinion, Avithout ques
tioning the skill to decide upon the sufficiency of
cause, that the captain is nearer to the governraent
and has a rauch better idea of the value of a soldier
and of the use that raay be made of him than the
surgeon, and should have more controlling influence
in granting the discharge than he noAv has.
It would be as well perhaps to make mention of
our surgeon, Dr. Smythe M. Miles. He Avas, I believe,
a native of the State of Georgia, and had been, I was
told, an Assistant-Surgeon in the United States Navy.
He became associated with our battalion on the Rio
Grande the Sth day of August, 1846, by virtue of a
contract made Avith Colonel Watson, at the pay of
one hundred dollars per month, after the Avithdrawal

174 31 E 310 IRS OF A
of Dr. Dove, of Washington. There Avere a good
many of these contract surgeons, as they Avere termed,
now Avith the army, but I am sure none better than
Dr. Miles. He continued with us until our end of
service, and I had much confidence in his natural
medical ability, if not in his acquirements.

CHAPTER XVL
MARCH TO VICTORIA.
On the 10th day of December an order was issued
from the headquarters of the army of occupation,
Avhich transferred the Baltimore Battalion from the
Fourth Brigade of the First Division to a volunteer
brigade, consisting of the First Mississippi, the First
Tennessee, and the First Georgia Regiments of Volun
teers, comraanded by Brigadier-General John A.
Quitman, United States Array. A reorganization of
the First Division Avas necessary in view of our con
templated march on Victoria, and we were very much
gratified in being attached to Quitman's Brigade, as
long as we had to leave our old friends of the First,
Third, and Fourth Infantry; the latter regiment
being left to hold the citadel of Monterey, the two
former accompanying our column in the Fourth Brig-
ado, commanded by Colonel P. F. Smith.
The First Tennessee and the First Mississippi Avere
old friends of the Rio Grande in Haraer's Brigade,
and Ave rejoined thera with many a friendly shake of

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 175
the hands. I Avas not personally acquainted with
General Quitraan, but esteemed him for his Avell-
deserved reputation.
The order of march Avas issued on the 12th day of
Deceraber, and on the 13th Twiggs's Division marched ;
on the 14th our brigade left its old carap, and the
Baltimore Batt-alion, after nearly three months spent
in the wood of San Doraingo, near Monterey, took up
its line of march for Victoria, distant some two hun
dred miles to the south-east.
General Taylor and headquarters of the army of
occupation, marched Avith our brigade, and the initia
tive of a new campaign Avas taken. What might be
its plan, or what was its object, Avas left to conjecture,
as far as a captain of infantry was concerned.
General Worth, Avith his division, Avas at Saltillo.
General Wool, having, as yet, not succeeded in finding
Chihuahua, Avas somcAvhere about Parras or Mon-
clova, in the same State of Coahuila. General Butler,
Avith his division of volunteers and the Fourth U. S.
Infantry, was at Monterey ; General Patterson at
Caraargo, or on the line of the Rio Grande.
As yet Ave knew nothing of General Scott nor of
his approaching arrival, nor of the transfer to hira of
the chief command of the armies in Mexico.
At 9 o'clock A.M. Ave left our huts, and, Avith almost
a feeling of home-sickness, bade a final adieu to the
grounds so long occupied by us. We took the old
road to the city which we had followed on the morn
ing of the 21st of Septeraber; before we reached
the fort we passed the skeletons of a great raany poor
felloAvs Avho had been killed in the assault; their

176 MEMOIRS OF A
bones, flesh, and remnants of clothing were lying
about exposed to full view, having been dug from the
earth, where they had been buried, by the wolves.*
We crossed the San Juan or Tigre River by Avading,
the depth being from two to three feet and the water
very cold. We marched along a beautiful road, wind
ing around the base of the mountain " Comanche
Saddle," to the east of the city, and reached the most
beautiful town I ever saw, named Guadalupe. Per
haps one reason why we all thought this such a pretty
town was because a lovely Mexican senorita stood
gazing at the troops as we passed ; she excited uni
versal admiration not only by reason of her beauty,
but by her modest appearance and demeanor. She
was the subject of our talk for the balance of the
day's march, and many a soldier said he was coming
back to Guadalupe, when the war was over.
The houses Avere generally built of cane, Avith
thatched roofs, and a paling also of cane surrounding
the gardens, in which bloomed the orange, the lemon,
pomegranate, and banana. Outside of the tropics no
such enchanting picture could be seen as in this little
town, when the rays of the evening sun fell upon its
beauties. The road, after leaving Guadalupe, passed through
a sugar-cane country of several miles in extent, and,
* I have not before noticed the number of wolves in the
vicinity of Monterey; there were very many packs that seeraed
to den on the mountain sides in the environs of the city, and on
one occasion a pack of at least fifty ran, in full cry, through our
camp at night.

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 177
the cane being ripe, each officer and raan was soon
seen chcAving and swalloAving the sweetest of all fluids
that ever touched the huraan palate. This sugar
cane juice, to the dry throat of a soldier Avho has
been marching through clouds of du.st, is the consum
mation of earthly enjoyments ; as one of our men
said, " There was no let up in it." As night ap
proached, Ave struck the San Juan again ; the crossing
Avas quite difficult, as the riA'er Avas deeper and more
rapid than Avhere Ave had crossed it in the morning.
Many of the soldiers stumbled and fell into the Avater,
Avhich occasioned hearty peals of laughter from those
Avho had successfully Avaded to the other bank.
We halted and bivouacked on the south bank of
the river, the men being very much fatigued, though
Ave had made but fourteen miles to-day. The sun
about noon Avas very hot, and the road ankle-deep in
dust ; as night approached, it grcAv cold and camp-
fires pleasant.
December 15. On the march by sunrise, our direc
tion nearly due east, the road good but very dusty ; the
country arid until we approached the town of Cada-
rita, Avhen it became good and highly cultivated, corn
and sugar-cane fields alternating. We Avere told that
the corn uoav in blossom Avas the third crop this year.
The San Juan River was becoming a nuisance, as Ave
had to cross it three times during the morning's
march, and at each crossing the water Avas deeper
than at the preceding, so that, Avith the Avater and
dust, our pantaloons felt heavy and very disagreeable.
The street of Cadarita through Avhich Ave marched
Avas lined with orange-trees loaded Avith fruit, to
12

178 3IEM0IRS OF A
which we all helped ourselves ad libitum. In the
plaza a column Avas erected, I could not ascertain for
what purpose ; on one of its sides a very large church
was in ruins, Avhilst the several bells belonging to it
Avere suspended not more than five or six feet from
the ground. After passing for six miles through a
succession of cane-fields, Ave again had to cross the
river, making four times in this day's march. The
men behaved badly to-day, the column being greatly
scattered, the heat being intense and the marching
very laborious. We had a long march of tAventy-two
miles, halting for the night on the banks of a race
Avhich fed a large sugar-mill. My feet were blistered ;
I suffered a good deal, yet I had to go on guard, and
passed the night in Avatchfulness.
December 16. Stiff and sore, I was relieved from
guard, and took my place at sunrise at the head of
my corapany. I marched Avith difficulty ; but it Avas
not so hot as on yesterday, and the Avind was blowing
so that the dust did not hang upon us. We were
traversing a belt of sterile country, and at 10 o'clock
passed through a miserable hamlet, few people being
visible ; at 2 o'clock p.m. reached the Ramos River, a
beautiful stream flowing east from the Sierra Madre ;
wading the river, we bivouacked on the sandy bed of
its shore, having marched fourteen railes. Here rumors
spread that we Avere cut off by the Mexicans, that a
large force of the enemy was ahead and between us
and the First Division. We soon found that we were
halted to let a train close up, to be under the protec
tion of our brigade.
December 17. Last night it was bitter cold, the

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. I79
Avind from the raountains sweeping down the river
valley; Ave Avere aroused before daylight by the re
veille, and stood up in ranks until 8 o'clock, before
starting. Our battalion Avas throAvn in the advance,
and for eight railes Ave marched through a wood of
moschete- or ebony-trees, which, by the by, had made
us excellent fires the past night. At noon we ascended
a mountain, on the top of Avhich we found Generals
Taylor and Twiggs, Colonel Sraith, and their staffs.
The road now descended rapidly ; but we Avere ordered
to raove slowly and cautiously ; couldn't think wdiat
Avas up, but Ave kept a sharp lookout ; soon we saAv a
body of troops, Avhich certainly Avere United States
soldiers, and so they proved to be ; a regiraent of
Tennessee volunteers Avere effecting a junction, having
marched from Caraargo. We are noAV in the vicinity
of Monte Morelos, and have to wait until the train
has been passed oA'er the mountain. Fortunately our
being in the advance saved us from great labor, as
the rear regiments had to help the teams to pull the
Avagons up the hill. Our men were in huge spirits at
this luck, and many of them Avent to see the little
mules pull; many Avere the Avords of encouragement
they gaA^e to the Tennesseeans and Georgians, as they
strained at the Avagons.
Distance made to-day, fourteen miles.
December 18. In camp near the town of Monte
Morelos, capital of the department of the same narae,
and called after a faraous priest patriot, Avho distin
guished hiraself in the Mexican Avar of independence.
The town is small, Spanish-looking, Avith a very neat
cathedral, inside and out. The mountains are all

180 3IE310IRS OF A
around, yet this is a centre of a large sugar trade Avith
the miners in the adjoining State of San Luis; it is a
flourishing Avell-built city, Avith Avell-paved streets and
a decent-looking set of inhabitants. There are some
fine stores, and altogether it has a Avell-to-do appear
ance. I noticed that the people seemed frightened,
and there was unmistakably great excitement about
headquarters ; Ave couldn't make it out, or Avhy Ave
didn't march. Our astonishment Avas great Avheii we
saAv the First Division of Regulars marching aAvay
from us and taking the road by Avhich Ave had come.
They left hurriedly, and Ave hastened to camp to
learn that General Worth had sent for help, and that
Taylor Avas on the raarch back to Monterey. Now
for rumors, and they flcAv magnificently. There Avas
no doubt about one thing, — Ave Avere left "in the
mountains," and the next step Avas looked forward to
Avith anxiety.
During the day orders Avere published that the First
and Second Tennessee Regiments were to constitute
one brigade under Colonel Campbell, of the First Ten
nessee ; the First Mississippi, the First Georgia, and
the Baltimore Battalion, another brigade under Colonel
Jackson, of the Georgia Regiment ; the Avhole consti
tuting a field division, under Brigadier-General Quit
raan, and Ave Avere all ordered to continue our march
on to-morrow.
The raost reliable ncAvs Ave could get Avas that
Santa Anna Avas threatening Worth, that Butler had
left Monterey Avith all his disposable force to help
Worth at Saltillo, and that Patterson Avas marching
from the Rio Grande Avith the volunteers to occupy

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 181
Monterey. If all this be true, Ave are in rather an
uglA' dilemma, and to get out of this there is only
one Avay, and that is to push on to the Gulf; iohy we
did not return Avith Taylor, Ave learned as we marched.
A body of troops Avere uqav en route to Victoria from
the Rio Grande to meet our advance, and if Ave could
not effect a junction with thera they Avould be cut
off; We have had a delightful day, and Avith the rest
lessness characteristic of our raen, some of them sal
lied out. gunning ; they returned Avith seA^eral parrots,
Avhich they had killed, and " Pretty poll" Avas cried
by every rascal in the command, during the whole of
the night, until sleep Avas nearly out of the question.
December 19. We Avere on the march this morning
at sunrise, our road skirting the base of a mountain,
and our course east-southeast ; marched A'ery rapidly
until we reached a streara of ice-cold water, Avhich
Ave Avaded Avith many a shiver and hard Avord ; met
a good many angry-looking Mexicans — real moun-
taineer.s they were, and not at all abashed by our
presence ; they had evidently heard of Santa Anna
being on the Avar-path, and hoped to see him at Monte
Morelos ; Ave Avould have turned back if Ave had not
been ordered forward, for a more reckless, daring body
of men Avere never brigaded together than were now
marching Avith Quitman through this foreign land.
One of the ruraors circulating on the march to-day,
coming from the head of the column. Avas that they
never slept in the camp of the Baltiraore Battalion ;
that Avhen anybody Avanted to sleep, he Avould go out
in the chaparral. So much ior pretty poll.

182 MEMOIRS OF A
We made but eleven miles to-day, owing to the
mountains we had to ascend, and the necessity of
keeping Avell closed up. We halted and bivouacked
with but little Avood for fire, and passed a cheerless
night. December 20 — Sunday. Got up from my bed on
the hard earth at tAvo o'clock this morning, being so
cold that I could not sleep ; found most of my com
pany stirring about for Avood to make fires Avith ;
cooked coffee long before daylight, and awaited the
reveille ; off at sunrise, and had a hard day's raarch
over the spurs of the Sierra Madre. I suffered a good
deal from my sore feet, the road being hilly and rocky
hurt thera ; Avater scarce to-day, and for some reason
impossible to explain, the men marched rapidly Avith
out any apparent cause. We saw Avild turkeys and
several deer running, the mountains being full of
game. Toward night Ave descended into the valley of
Linarez, and Avere once more among the cane-fields.
We biA^ouacked in a thick chaparral araong rocks on
the banks of a rapid streara. Made eighteen railes
to-day, and instead of rest I Avas detailed for guard,
with instructions to be on the alert and to visit ray
posts continually during the night. No I'est this
Sabbath, so I sat by the camp-fires, and Avith their
light made ray notes of the day's march ; very cold,
and my eyes full of smoke.
December 21. After nine miles of pleasant march
ing, we halted on the banks of a rapid river called
the San Fernando, not the San Juan, opposite the
toAvn of Linarez, one of the principal towns of the
State of NeAV Leon, distant forty leagues from Mon-

3IARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 183
terey. being about one-half the distance to Victoria.
Linarez has a population of from six to ten thou
sand inhabitants, is a handsorae totvn, and has more
respectable-looking citizens than any town yet seen.
The greatest novelty Avas the large nuraber of its
people on the streets, Avhicli raade the contrast to the
other toAvns Ave had pa.ssed through striking and
agreeable. Araong the ladies who were looking at
us, I noticed several Avith parrots perched on their
hands, and they seemed pleased Avith the fun our men
made as they marched along. I saw here the first
house I had seen in the country Avliich had the ap
pearance of an hotel ; it had for a sign '• Tienda de
Abundancia." In fact, we all voted Linarez muy
bueno. On the nine miles of to-day's raarch Ave passed
through thousands and thousands of acres — yes,
railes — of cane-fields, luxuriant in their groAvth, and
Avith large establishments for the manufacture of
sugar scattered at interA^als through this famous
A-alley of Linarez. I think that we were the first
American troops the inhabitants had seen, and al
though they were shy they seemed not to be afraid ;
it may be that they kneAV, Avhat Ave as yet Avere ignor
ant of, that a force of their countrymen Avas close at
hand. December 22. Took an early start this morning,
and confidently expected an attack, as our division
picket, just in, had reported a body of Mexican
Lancers to be in sight. We marched Avith loaded
arms and in compact column ; as Ave crossed the
surarait of a mountain, we caught a glimpse of the

184 31 E 310 IRS OF A
toAvn of Linarez several miles in our rear, lighted up
Avith the rising sun. I believe that every man in the
division cast a look upon the charming picture that
this toAvn presented, in its nest among the mountains.
Our road Avas bad, very bad, rocky and uncA'en, no
Avater, and not a ranch to be seen. We halted at
the first stream Ave came to, and in a very picturesque
spot, but a very uncomfortable one ; Ave pitched our
tents in the midst of a thick Avood with rocks piled
up all around us. The men soon sallied out, despite
Lancers, Avith their guns, to look for game, and they
returned Avith wild hogs, turkeys, parrots, and arma
dillos. The parrots Avere excellent eating, but I had
not the heart to eat the armadillos, — they looked so
beseeching Avhile alive.
December 23. It rained incessantly all last night;
fortunately Ave had had time to pitch our tents, never
theless Ave were A^ery damp, and the mud was thick.
We slept but little, as there Avas firing at intervals
from tattoo to reveille, and several Mexicans are
reported to have been .shot ; there Avas more or less
of alarm all night. We delayed starting this morn
ing, so as to haA^e daylight to get out of the forest ;
the road Avas heavy, and my sore feet were much
blistered from so frequently treading upon stones
covered with mud, Avhicli I could not avoid ; Ave
passed but one ranch until four o'clock in the after
noon, Avhen Ave reached a handsome house on the
banks of a river, Avhere Ave halted ; here there Avas
much consultation, as it Avas thought we had lost our
road, so primeval and undisturbed was the appearance
of the country. Large flocks of parrots Avere fiying

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 185
overhead in countless thousands, just as I have seen
the Avild pigeons in Maryland ; deer, turkeys, wild
boar, a bird like a pheasant, and another like a
guinea-fowl, Avere numerous and unquestionably not
much alarmed by man ; the road looked as if it were
not often travelled, and the few people about the
ranch kncAv nothing, or Avould tell nothing. It Avas
determined to pass the night here, and aAvait a recon
naissance Avhich Avas ordered.
December 24:. A damp, drizzly morning ; Captain
Steuart's and my company Avere detailed for rear
guard, iust as the brigade Avas about moving ; halted
until the division and its train had passed, Avhen Ave
fell in and raarched. The Avagons kept Avell closed
up, but Ave had much difficulty keeping the mules
and their arrieros up Avith the Avagons. I pitied the
mules and saved them all I could, yet they Avere
lieaA-ily loaded and seeraed to suffer. We crossed a
river, and here the raules AA'ere disposed not to corae
out of the Avater ; and as there Avere several hundred
of thera in the stream at the same time, some idea
may be forraed of Avhat the rear-guard had to do, Avith
the knowledge that every rainute's delay increased
the distance between our troops and us. We got
thera all over after awhile, and pushed on rapidly,
overtaking our brigade at the town of Villa Grande ;
Ave received orders to let the raules go in advance,
Avhile Ave Avaited until a nuraber of wagons Avere
loaded with corn, purchased in the town from the
Mexicans. We helped thera to load, and then
started after the troops. We raarched rapidly, but
did not get into camp until after dark, and bivouacked

186 MEMOIRS OF A
in the midst of a thicket of chaparral and thorns so
dense that there was scarcely room to pile a stack of
arms. We had one satisfaction, however, that if Ave
did not know where Ave Avere, Ave were certain that
the enemy would never find us. Here Ave spent our
Christmas eve; around the camp-fire I told my
officers that if they Avould find the materials for egg-
nog, I Avould supply the means ; volunteers Avere
soon off in search, but it Avas midnight before they
returned Avith a single bottle of muscal (a strong
Mexican brandy), and a dozen eggs. A carap-kettle
filled Avith Avater Avas boiling, and Avith plenty of
sugar, Ave had a sweet but not very strong mess-pan
full of egg-nog for ourselves, and a tin-cup full for
each one of my men to drink a happy Christmas to
all at home.
December 25. Christmas day, 1846. It rained last
night, and having no shelter but the bushes our fes
tivities Avere much dampened. To add to our hilarious
feelings this morning, Ave Avere credibly informed that
General Canales Avould commeraorate the day by
attacking the Yankees on the march.
We got out of the thicket about sunrise, ascended
a high raountain ; descending, Ave passed through an
orchard of orange-trees, noticeable for their great size
and quantity of fruit, then through a forest, when
we came to a river running alongside the AA'ood. We
Avaded this river Avaist-deep, and took a cold bath by
way of a Christmas drink, so as to enter the toAvn of
Hidalgo, now in sight, in proper trira for the festivities
of the day. We had a hearty laugh before entering
the town. A dense groAvth of timber was growing

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 187
on the river bottom, the trees must have been of the
famous banyan species of Hindostan; frora the trunk,
great arras spread out, from which descended roots or
branches Avhich entered the earth and gave birth to
another tree, Avhich in its turn threw out similar arras,
and again reproduced itself in others. Astride one
of these huge arras Avas a Tennessee volunteer Avith
his musket at a support, evidently Availing for the
Baltiraore Battalion to corae along; as soon as our
men saAV him they sent up a shout which made the
Avoods ring. Sorae one asked him Avhat he was doing
up there on guard. He replied, " Stranger, I have
he'erd tell of the elephant being on show in this heer
country, and seeing as how I've found him, Avhy I am
jist taking a ride."
If the Moors in the first century of their occupa
tion of the Peninsula had built this Mexican toAvn of
Hidalgo, Avhich Ave Avere now entering, it could not
have presented a more striking picture of the " Do-
minacion de los Arabes en Espana" so graphically
narrated by Conde. Its very church, noAV in ruins,
Avas a mosque in all its features, and here in New
Spain, the trarap of the followers of Mohammed Avas
marked as distinctly as the heel of the Roraan on the
plains of Carthage.
Hidalgo, Avith its high-sounding name, has seen its
best days ; it Avas A^ery dilapidated. We saw but few
people, and no sign of Christraas ; raarched two railes
beyond, and encaraped on the road-side. Made fifteen
miles to-day.
December 26. On guard again last night; took an
early start this raorning, and after tAvo hours' march

188 ME3I0IRS OF A
came to a deep and rapid stream; there was great
difficulty in fording it, and much delay before our
whole division had crossed. The First Brigade Avas
in line Avhen we got to the further bank, and Ave
marched forAvard, letting it remain to cover the
Avagons and the mule train. At noon Ave halted and
Avent into camp, all Avondering why we had done so,
as we had not made more than six railes. Before
long Ave learned that the rear-guard of May's Dragoons
had been attacked* and his Avhole baggage captured.
Things looked squally, everybody on the alert, arms
discharged, cleaned, and inspected. General Urrea,
not Canales, was on our flank with a large body of
good cavalry, and an attack Avas expected. I now
admired the order of march of Quitman, and his
excellent judgraent in selecting camps so unfavorable
for cavalry to act in with any hope of success against
such troops as Ave had.
December 27 — Sunday. March resumed, Baltimore
Battalion in the advance. We marched this whole
day AA'ith arms loaded and bayonets fixed ; and as they
say of horses sometimes in a race, you might have
covered the Avhole division Avitli a blanket, so closely
did they keep their ranks. At 4 o'clock p.m. Ave
reached a large ranch, at Avhich there Avas a sugar-
mill. The Mexicans had just left, intending, as they
said, to fight us at Victoria. We Avent into camp,
and here I took a lesson in the proper formation to
resist a night-attack from cavalry. During the night
firing was heard, and in a fcAV minutes the division

* He lost eleven men, twelve horses, and all bis baa-saa-e.

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. Igg
Avas under arms. An attack had been raade upon the
picket-guard lying in the road to Victoria, but the
enemj' finding it on the alert and the Avhole camp
alarmed did not press the attack. We remained un
der arms until nearly daybreak, Avhen Ave got a little
.sleep. December 28. We are noAv at the corner where the
three Mexican States of New Leon, San Luis Potosi,
and Tamaulipa.s. join each other; close on our right,
the main chain of the Sierra Madre uplifts its tower
ing heights, and in the south-Avest may be seen the
famous gap in the mountain, called the Tula Pas,s,
through Avhich the road frora the Gulf of Mexico
passes into the interior. The river Avhich we crossed
day before yesterday is named the Santaiider, Avhicli
finds its sources among these ridges and flows north
eastwardly, emptying into the Gulf about the tropic of
Cancer. Again Ave marched sloAvly and cautiously, hugging
the base of the mountain on our right flank, still
under the impression that Ave Avould be attacked,
until Ave reached a Large sugar plantation named the
Hacienda of Santa En Gracia, distant ten miles from
Victoria. Here Ave halted, and having to report in person to
General Quitman for orders, I was instructed to march
Avith my guard to a ford, a mile distant, and to pre
vent the passage of the river, should such be attempted
by the Mexicans.
I marched Avith my guard, and during the night,
Avhilst sitting on the river-bank, Avatching over the
ford, I Avas startled by the report of a gun fired by

190 MEMOIRS OF A
one of my sentries. Hastening to his side, as I had
seen no enemy. I found a Georgian coolly reloading
his musket. I asked him how he dared to suffer his
piece to be discharged, despite my instructions, as he
kneAV the Avhole division Avould be aroused ; and eA'en
whilst talking the roll of the drums beating the long-
roll carae drifting down Avith the Avind. The sentry
saAV the scrape he had got himself in, and replied,
" Captain, you see I was so tired and so sleepy that
to keep myself awake I kept pinting ray gun at a
duck I saAV on the river, and I thought hoAV I Avould
like to ichispjer to it, — and, dang it, I forgot the gun
Avas cocked, and aAvay she Avent." I had barely placed
him under arrest, and another .sentry on his post,
Avhen a staff officer came galloping from headquarters
to ascertain the cause of alarm. I made the best
excuse I could, that I Avould prefer charges against
the sentinel, and said that I Avould report in person
at headquarters as soon as relieved, to explain the
needless alarra. I did so, and after telling the gen
eral the soldier's story, he sent for him and told him,
that if ever he whispered again Avithout orders, it
Avould be his last. The general ordered his release,
and giving me a boAvl of hot coffee, Ave both left
equally gratified, to take our places in the column then
forming for the march.
December 29. We advanced on Victoria and en
tered the toAvn at noon, the enemy retiring as we
approached, which gave rae a very good opinion of
the railitary capacity of General Urrea. With a
force of three thousand cavalry, he had been hanging
on our line of march from Linarez to this place, Avith-

31 A RYLAND VOLUNTEER. 191
out a single opportunity being offered hira to make an
attack Avith any hope of success, and he very wisely
saved his command and Avithdrew it to the Tula Pass,
among whose mountain fastnesses it Avas never our
fortune to foUoAV him.
I found here a Mexican chart Avhich raade the dis
tance frora Monterey seventy-nine leagues, Avhich at
tAvo and a half miles to the league (that Ave learned
to be the length of their league) gives the distance at
one hundred and ninety-seven and a half miles ; by
my itinerary I estimated it at one hundred aud ninety-
tAvo miles ; if Ave call it two hundred railes in round
numbers, it Avill be very near the correct distance by
a pretty good road betAA^een the tAvo capital cities of
NeAV Leon and T.amaulipas.

CHAPTER XVIL
VICTORIA.
General Quit.aian took forraal possession of Vic
toria, the capital of the State of Tamaulipas, on the
29tli day of December, 1846, and the flag of the
"Baltimore Battalion," of his division, Avas hoisted on
the flag-staff of the State House. The ceremonies
attending the entry and occupation Avere forraal and
iraposing; the infantry, preceded by Bragg's (uoav
Thomas's) Battery, forraed in close coluran of com
panies, marched Avith arms at a support and bayonets
fixed around the main plaza, the artillery filing out of

192 MEMOIRS OF A
the coluran and mas.sing in the centre ; we then opened
our column and wheeled into line facing iuAvards
from each side of the square, officers to the front and
arras presented, as the flag selected from our battalion
Avas hoisted amid the music of all the instruments in
our command, playing " Hail Columbia" and the
" Star Spangled Banner." At this time, the Alcalde
and municipal authorities came forward and made an
address to General Quitman, Avhen Ave marched out of
the city and went into carap in a charraing field near
by, Avhere, foot-sore and Aveary, I hoped to get some
rest. I Avas disappointed; at sunset. Major Buchanan
Avas ordered into toAvn Avith three corapanies of his
battalion, as rumor Avas rife that an attempt would
be made to recapture Victoria. We occupied the
State House, and I Avas ordered to fortify it. In doing
so I necessarily entered the legislative chambers, and
found on the desks of the raerabers Avritten motions
made on the preceding daj-, showing that they had
only then deterrained to AvithdraAv without a fight,
trusting for an opportunity to take us at a disad
vantage. So hasty had been their flight that their
national flag, Avhich had been flying that day, Avas
left, and Ave found it in the Speaker's desk, Avhich
was upon a handsome rostrum on the south side of
the hall. I took supper in General Urrea's quarters,
and as he had breakfasted there and Avas likely to
return, I ate a very hearty one.
It Avas a beautiful moonlight night, and Ave
patrolled the town every half-hour, keeping up com
raunications Avith the main body at camp. It Avas a

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. I93
melancholy sort of duty this wandering about an
enemy's town, and it would h.ave been a pleasant
relief to have met with armed resistance. A great
many of the citizens had Avitnessed the cereraonies
attending the occupation, and I had looked at them
carefully. They seemingly beheld the parade Avith
that love for military display Avhich is characteristic
of the nation ; but their countenances showed they felt
that their country was being humiliated, and I must
say that I really felt for them.
Noav all Avas still as death, even the dogs did not
bark ; and, as tired as Ave all were, it Avas noticed that
not a man of our guard even said he Avas .sleepy, — so
intense Avas the excitement.
December 30. On duty all day, patrolling the toAvn
and strengthening the defenses about the State House;
the stores Avere generally closed, all business sus
pended, and but few people to be seen. Some feAv
Indians gathered in the plaza to hold their accustomed
market, but even they Avith all their stolid indiffer
ence were forced to yield to the general gloom, and
soon left for their country ranches. At sundown Ave
Avere relieved by four companies from the First
Brigade, and gladly got under our blankets at camp
after forty-eight hours' constant duty.
December 31. No news frora General Taylor since
he left us at Monte Morelos, — not even a ruraor to
day. Our single division, Avith a light Battery, com
prising the whole force (as far as we know), now
confronting the Mexican army gathering in the moun
tains on our Avest. Where will they strike ?
General Patterson is undoubtedly coming this Avay
13

194 31EM0IRS OF A
with his volunteers from the Rio Grande, and whether
we shall move toward San Luis Potosi, through the
Tula Pass, or toward Tampico, is the question now
upon the lips and in the thoughts of every one in
Quitman's Division. There is a very general restless
ness, indicative of uncertainty, and groups of officers
discuss the question with more than usual earnestness.
We all Avant to go to Tampico ; this is the military
judgraent, that we should abandon the line of the
Rio Grande for offensive purposes.
If Santa Anna had had the same judgment, he
wduld not have sacrificed the best army Mexico ever
put in the field at Buena Vista, but would have .¦-^aved
it for the defense of the capital. He made the sarae
mistake that Ampudia did at Monterey ; he mistook
tactics for strategy. Anxious to fight, he fought the
troops nearest at hand, Avithout an idea that it might
be possible he could be outgeneraled.
While he Avas now marshaling his army in the
State of San Luis, the near road to the city of Mexico
Avas left open ; this Avas about to be seized 1 jy the
superior genius of one of the greatest soldiers of the
age — Major-General Winfield Scott.
We knew nothing as yet of the plan of campaign,
but Ave Avere in the field, and Avits become Avonderfully
brightened in the presence of danger. As before
said, Ave Avere unanimous in the opinion that we
should change our strategy; it Avas idle to talk of con
quering a peace in the valley of the Sierra Madre.
That Ave Avould have to conquer one, no one now
doubted. Santa Anna, the recognized head of the
State, had raade knoAvn the sentiraent of the nation.

3tA RYLAND VOLUNTEER. 19 5
that not while a hostile soldier trod their soil Avould
Mexico make peace.
This had been my opinion ; its semi-official promul
gation did not startle me. And thus closed upon the
Baltimore Battalion, at Victoria de Tamaulipas, the
year 1846.

CHAPTER XVIIL
THE ARAIY OF OCCUPATION AT A'ICTORIA, AND THE
ARRIVAL OF GENERAL TAYLOR.
January 1, 1847 — NcAA^-Year's day. Off duty and
on a visit to the city ; no school-boy ever enjoA ed a
holiday more than I did this. True, there Avas not
rauch to be seen, but I Avas free to go Avhere I chose
and from the cares belonging to a Captain of a com
pany. I rambled over the toAvn, visited the cathedral,
in which divine service Avas being held, looked into
the few shops that Avere open, gossiped Avith my
brother officers of the division, many of Avhom — like
myself — Avere Avandering about as only Americans do
wander, and finally brought up in the market, look
ing Avith interest at the A^egetables, fruit, merchandise,
and country produce offered for sale.
Victoria is on an elevated plain, close to the moun
tains on the west. This plain is of great extent.
highly cultivated, and its chief products, corn and
sugar, make the town an entrepot and place of con
siderable trade with the adjoining mining States of
San Luis and Zacatecas, the maiu road to Avhich runs

196 ME 310 IRS OF A
from this town through the mountains, by way of the
gap in the Sierra previously spoken of Its population
does not exceed from three to five thousand, although
the number of houses (many of which are unoccu
pied) Avould lead one to suppose that its population
Avas much greater. The plaza is very large, the
cathedral occupying one of its faces, and the buildings
in this vicinity are respectable ; as you leave the
square and approach the suburbs, the houses decrease
in size, and the outskirts are the reed huts of the
poorer classes. It is by no means comparable to
Monterey, either as a city or in extent of trade or
population. There are raany genteel-looking citizens,
but they appear to be of a more peaceable disposition
— milder than any before met. They Avere not indif
ferent to their situation, Avere not indolent or apathetic.
I have given the only Avord by Avhich I can express
the opinion I formed of them, — raild, they seemed
mild. I learned that one of the officers who had retired,
as we approached, Avas a Captain Augustine Iturbide,
Avho had been a scholar at Saint Mary's College, Bal
timore, and was now on the staff of General Urrea."''
I went out to carap at sunset, and was just in time
to meet with the first norther I had ever seen or felt.
The Avind blew a hurricane, prostrating in a minute
nearly every tent, and the air was filled with dust,
* He subsequently called to see me, and made himself known
while I was at the National Bridge. He seemed much pleased
to meet a Baltimorean who knew some of his former school.
mates.

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. I97
sand-burs, ticks, and A-arious flies and insects ; while
overhead clouds of parrots, disturbed in their roosts
on the mountain sides. Avere flying, Avhirling, and
screaming like mad. Two thousand men were turned
out of house and horae in the tAvinkling of an eve,
and a scene of utter confusion prevailed in the dark
ness Avhich fell like a pall over everything. For fully
half an hour the storm-king Avas in coraraand, and
not a rag of canvas could be raised to shelter us from
the fury of the gale ; by midnight, the Avind had
abated and the thermometer must have been down to
freezing ; it Avas very cold, and the noise of driving
tent-pins into the earth showed the activity with Avhich
our houses were being reconstructed, for CA^en a canvas
shelter is better than none, against cold.
One of the gravest objections to this climate is the
violent alternation of heat and cold Avithin tAventy-
four hours. I think there must be an average differ
ence of thirty or forty degrees of Fahrenheit betAveen
noon and midnight. At mid-day, the sun is hot ; by
sundoAvn, the Aveather is so cold that j^ou want the
heat of a fire; and at raidnight, you are lucky if you
have blankets enough to keep warm enough to sleep.
This has been so to a greater or less extent since
last September, and serious fears are expressed by our
surgeons, that raany of our troops Avill be unfit for
service three raonths hence, on account of chills and
fevers. Januxxry 4. General Taylor arrived to-day with
Twiggs's First Division, and Ave Avere A'ery glad to
knoAV that they were again Avith us. They had had
a useless and tiresorae march back to Monterey from

198 31 EM 01 RS OF A
Monte Morelos, merely to find that the troops at Sal
tillo had been stampeded. So they again set out to
reach Victoria, and came to find Quitman in posses
sion for five days. General Patterson also arrived to
day Avith his division of volunteers, having suffered a
great deal from the scarcity of water on his march
from Camargo.
We of Haraer's Brigade knew all about this last
August, and it is very strange that these troops had
not been forewarned to carry water Avith them.
The number of troops concentrated here is about
five thousand men of all arms, and Ave have un
doubted information that a force of the enemy equally
large, under Generals Valencia and Urrea, is at Tula,
one hundred miles west, Avhile Santa Anna is at San
Luis Avith an unknoAvn force. General Taylor is
aAvaiting instructions, as he is not disposed to abandon
his moA'^ement upon Tampico to look after Valencia
or his chief, the redoubtable Don Antonio Lopez de
Santa Anna.
¦January 8. The Aveather here has been very dis
agreeable ; Ave have had tAvo more northers, and twice
my tent has been blown down ; cold and stormy
Aveather is very bad for living in the open air. A
very noticeable fact in these fierce bloAvs of Avind is
the c^uantity of fine black dust that is carried along
Avith the gale; it is so penetrating that my face has
been covered Avith it Avhen I aAvoke in the morning,
notwithstanding the tent Avas tightly closed and my
head Avell covered. I am not sure that the ticks (as
Ave call them in Maryland) are also borne along by
the wind ; but that is the opinion in camp, and Ave

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 199
are more annoyed by them than we Avere by the mos
quitoes on the Rio Grande last summer. We have
another annoyance, destined to persecute us until Ave
left the country, — fleas; their nuraber is legion.
January 9. I think I may safely say that every
tent Avent doAvn last night ; the Avind changed sud
denly' after dark last evening frora the south to the
north, and again we had a norther from the ice pole
itself which had gathered strength from every degree
as it flew toAvard the equator ; it is really impossible
to paint or imagine the quantity of discomibrt Ave
haA'e experienced in camp this month of January at
Victoria.

CHAPTER XIX.
GENERAL SCOTT PLACED IN COMMAND  HIS ARRIVAL
IN THE COUNTRY.
January 11. It Avas at Victoria that General Tay
lor first learned that General Scott Avas in the country,
had arrived at the Brazos Santiago; and this was why
his march on Tampico had been stopped, to await in
structions, Avhich it Avas to be supposed Avould follow
the totally unexpected arrival of the Commander-in-
chief. These instructions came, and Avere of such a char
acter, as now to merit the attention of every citizen,
and to deserve the profound consideration of every
lover of his country ; for history cannot shoAV a

200 MEMOIRS OF A
brighter example of patriotism, of military subordina
tion, of high-toned integrity, than Avas pre,sented in
the conduct of General Taylor at this time.
On the 7th he had written the following letter:
" Headquarters Armt of Occupation,
"Camp near Victoria, Mexico. January 7, 1847.
" Sir, — I have the honor to advise you tbat on the 2'Jth ult.
Brigadier-General Quitman occupied, without resistance, the city
of Victoria, capital of the State of Tamaulipas. The enemy
had a body of some fifteen hundred cavalry in the town, with
its advanced picket at Santa Engracia, but it fell back as Gen
eral Quitraan approached, and is understood to be now at Jau-
mave, in the direction of Tula. At Tula there is a strong di
vision of observation, under the command of General Valencia.
An e.xamination of the raountain pass leading to Tula shows
that it is entirely impracticable for artillery or wagons. Such is
also believed to be the character of the Santa Barbara Pass,
wbich opens in tbe direction of Tampico.
" I arrived bere with tbe division of Brigadier-General Twiggs
on the 4th inst., and was joined on the same day by the force
which Major-General Patterson conducted frora ^Mataraoras.
The force now collected here is over five thousand strong, and,
I am happy to add, in excellent health and in good condition for
service. " I am unofficially advised that Major-General Scott is now iu
tbe country, under orders from the government. I propose to
remain at this point until I can hear from him, and determine
what disposition to make of the troops now here. I am con
stantly expecting dispatches from bis headquarters.
'' I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
"( Signed) "Z. Taylor,
" Major-General commanding.
"To THE Adjutant-General of the Army,
" Washmgton."
The above letter I did not see or know anything

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 201
about until the year 1850. On the 14th of January,
1847, I Avrote frora camp, at Victoria :
" I have just returned from town ; saw a train of wagons,
escorted by Kentucky cavalry, arrive from Matamoras ; it was
loaded with supplies. I heard many rumors. There is evi
dently some grand move in contemplation, and I ara inclined to
think Vera Cruz will bring us up. I am just informed tbat Gen
eral Scott is at Matamoras, andthat General Taylor has received
dispatches from him ; if so, our movements may be changed. I
am satisfied that we would not bave remained here so long, but.
for tbe fact tbat General Scott was in the country, and General
Taylor would do nothing until he heard from him."
From the above it will be perceived that on the
Ifth I had just learned what Taylor knew on the
7th, but had correctly surmised the cause of delay,
although I, in a measure, ascribed it to the Avant of
necessary supplies.
General Scott arrived at Matamoras on the 30th day
of Deceraber, 1846, frora the United States, having
left NeAV Orleans on the 23d of the sarae month.*
General Taylor was then on the return raarch from
Monterey to Victoria, and he Avas in the latter city
when he first heard, unofficially, that Scott Avas in
the country. It is well to bear these facts and dates
in mind.
On the day of his arrival at Matamoras, General
Scott sent the following to the Honorable Secretary
of War, and the official heading shows that he Avas
then in command :

* He had landed at the Brazos on the 28th, and immediately
assumed command.

202 3IE310IRS OF A
" Headquarters of the Armt,
Matamoras, December 30, 1846.
" Sir, — I came here this morning, and found nothing but the
same contradictory rumors which prevailed yesterday at the
Brazos Santiago and tbe mouth of the river. But au officer has
just arrived here (for additional subsistence) frora Major-General
Patterson, at San Fernando, who says, positively, that tbe latter
had, on the morning of the SVtb inst., official dispatches from
Major-General Taylor, saying that he was about to return, with
a part of his moveable column, to Monterey, in order to support
Brevet Brigadier-General Worth, understood to be menaced at
Saltillo by Santa Anna and a powerful array.
"This inforraation has deterrained me to proceed up the river
to Camargo, in order to meet dispatches frora Major-General
Taylor, and, if his outposts should be seriously menaced, to join
hira rapidly. Otherwise I shall, at Camargo, be within easy
corresponding distance of hira in respect to my ulterior destina
tion. " If the eneray be acting offensively, Avith a large force, whicb
I yet somewhat doubt, we must first repulse and cripple him in
time to proceed to the new and raore distant theatre.
" No boat has come down the river in many days, on account
of the heavy winds, which make descent and ascent extremelv
difficult.* Hence, nothing, it is believed, has passed here from
Major-General Ta3dor's headquarters of a later date than tbe 14th
instant. Tbe steamer in which I write is ready to depart.
" I have tbe honor to be, etc.,
" (Signed) " Winfield Scott.
" To Hon. W. L. Marcy,
" Secretary of AVar."
It Avas on the llth day of January, 1847, that
General Taylor received the following astounding
and extraordinary communications, Avhich I give
entire, because of their interesting character and inti
mate connection with the thread of history ; raerely
premising that it must be borne in mind that at this
time Taylor had by the capture of and terms of ca-

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 203
pitulation at Monterey, driven the Mexicans beyond
the Sierra Madre, and that the Avhole valley of the
Rio Grande Avas clear of the enemy ; that the cara
paign, inaugurated solely by hira, had been success
fully terminated, leaving hira free to act, as he Avas
about doing, from another base on a neAv theatre.
"New York, November 25, 1846.
" Private and Confidential.'^
" ?>Iy Deak Genee.al, — I left Washington late in the day yes
terday, aud expect to erabark for New Orleans the SOth instant.
By the l'2tb of December I raay be in that city, at Point Isabel
tbe 17tb, and Camargo say the 23d, in order to be within easy
corresponding distance from you. It is not probable that I may
be able to visit Monterey, and circurastances mav prevent your
coming- to me. I shall much regret not having an early oppor
tunity of felicitating you in person upon your raany brilliant
achievements; but we may raeet soraewhere in the interior of
Mexico. "I ara not coming, mv dear General, to supersede you in the
iraraediate command on the line of operations rendered illustrious
by you and your gallant array. My proposed theatre is differ
ent. You may imagine it, and I wish verv much that it were
prudent at this distance to tell you all that I expect to attempt
or hope to execute. I bave been adraonished that dispatches
have been lost, and I bave no special raessenger at hand. Your
imagination will be aided bythe letters of the Secretary of War,
convi^yed by Mr. Armistead, Major Graham, and Mr. McLane.
" But, my dear General, I shall be obliged to take from you
most of the gallant officers and men (regulars and volunteers),
whom you have so long and so nobly comraanded. I am afraid
that I shall, by imperious necessity, — the approach of yellow
fever on the Gulf-coast, — reduce you for a tirae to stand on the
defensive. This will be infinitely painful to you, and for that
reason distressing to me. But I rely on your patriotism to sub
mit to tbe temporary sacrifice with cheerfulness. No man can
better afford to do so. Recent victories place you on that high

204 3IEM0IRS OF A
eminence, and I even flatter myself that any benefit that may
result to me personally from the unequal division of troops al
luded to will lessen the pain of your consequent inactivity.
"You will be aware of the recent call for nine regiments of
new volunteers, including one of Texas horse. The President
may soon ask for many more, and we are not without hope that
Congress may add ten or twelve to the regular establishment.
These, by the spring, — say April, — may, by the aid of large
bounties, be in the field, should Mexico not earlier propose terms
of accomraodation ; and long before the spring (March) it is prob
able you will be again in force to resurae offensive operations.
" I ara writing at a late bour of the night, and more than half
sick of a cold. I raay dispatch another note before I erabark ;
but frora New Orleans, Point Isabel, etc., you sball hear frora
me officially and fully.
" It was not possible for me to find time to write from Wash
ington, as I much desired. I only received an iutimation to hold
myself in preparation for ^Nlexicoon the ISth instant. Much has
been done towards tbat end, and raore remains to be executed.
"Your detailed report of the operations at Monterey, and
reply to tbe Secretary's dispatch, by Lieutenant Armistead,
were both received two days after I was iustructed to proceed
south. In baste, I remain, my dear General,
" Yours, faithfully,
" (Signed) " Winfield Scott.
"To Major-General Z. Taylor,
" United States Army Commanding, etc."
On the 12th day of the preceding month of Sep
tember, General Scott had written the following :
" Headquarters of the Army, West Point.
" New York, Septeraber 12, 1846.
" Sir, — In the letter I had the honor to address you on the
2'7th of May last, I recjuested that I raight be sent to take tbe
immediate command of tbe principal army against Mexico,
either 'to-day or at any better time he (tbe President) may be
pleased to designate.^
" The horse regiraents (twelve raonths' volunteers) destined

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 205
for that army being, I suppose, now within fifteen or twenty
marches of the Rio Grande, and the season for consecutive ope
rations at hand, I respectfully ask to remind the President of
that standing request. I do this without any hesitation in
respect to Major-General Taylor, having reason to believe that
my presence at the head of the army in tbe field, in accordance
with my rank, is neither unexpected or undesired by that gallant
and distinguished coraraander.
" A slight return of chills and fever raay detain rae here with
my faraily long enough to receive your reply to this note.
Should the President yield to my wishes, a few hours in New
York and Philadelphia would enable me to make certain arrange
ments and save the necessity of a return to those cities frora
Washington. I suppose it would be easy for rae to reach the
Rio Grande by the end of tbis month.
" With high respect, I bave the honor to be, sir, your most
obedient servant. "(Signed) " Winfield Scott.
" Hon. W. L. Marcy,
•¦ Secret.Try of AA'ar.'
It Avill thus be perceived that General Scott had
done all that he could officially, to take command in
Mexico, at the commenceraent of the Avar; and there
is nothing to show that he ever, subseciuent to this
letter on the 12th September, directly or indirectly,
contributed to deprive Taylor of his coraraand.
To this note of General Scott, the Secretary replied :
" War Department,
" Washington, September 14, 1846.
" Sir, — I have received your letter of the 12th instant, and
submitted it to the President. He requests me to inforra you
that it is not within the arrangeraents for conducting tbe carapaign
in Mexico to supersede General Taylor in his present command,
by assigning you to it.
" I am, with great respect,
" Your obedient servant,
"(Signed) " W. L. Marcy.
" To Major-General AV. Scott."

206 ME310IRS OF A
This curt ansAver of the Secretary settled the
matter, for, as before said, Scott had Avritten himself
into disfavor Avith the administration.
But the terms of the capitulation of Monterey had
been disapproved, and the following letter of the 23d
of November speaks for itself: " War Depart ji ent,
"Wadiington, November 23, 1846.
"Sir, — The President several days since communicated in
person to you bis orders to repair to Mexico, to take command
of the forces there assembled, and particularly to organize and
set on foot an expedition to operate on the Gulf-coast, if on
arriving at the theatre of action you shall deem it to be practi
cable. It is not proposed to control your operations by definite
and positive instructions, but you are left to prosecute tbem as
your judgraent, under a full view of all the circurastances, shall
dictate. The work is before you, and the means provided, or to
be provided, for accomplishing it are committed to you, in the
full confidence that you will use them to the best advantage.
" Tbe objects which it is desirable to obtain have been indi
cated, and it is hoped you will have the requisite force to accom
plish them. Of tbis you must be the judge when preparations
are made, and the time for action has arrived.
" Very respectfully, your obedient servant, " AA'. L. Marcy,
" Secretary of War.
" To Major-General Winfield Scott,
" Commanding the Army, Washington."
More ample poAvers or more absolute authority Avere
never given to general-in-chief ; and the high trust Avas
nobly, faithfully, and successfully discharged. But the
blow fell Avith crushing effect on the modest soldier
Avho had done so much to exalt the character and the
reputation of Araerican valor.
Beside the disapprobation of the terms of capitu-

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 207
lation, there Avas another disagreement betAveen the
War Departraent and General Taylor, owing to the
Secretary having sent orders direct to Major-General
Patterson on the Rio Grande, Avithout transraitting
them through Taylors headquarters. This the latter
took urabrage at. as it disposed of his troops Avithout
his knoAvledge : strictly speaking. General Taylor Avas
in the right; but the reasons given by the Secretary,
the chief of Avhich were the necessity for prompt
action, the uncertaintj^ of Taylor's Avhereabouts in the
enemy's country, and the danger of the orders being
captured by the enemy on their Avay frora the Rio
Grande, A\'ould seem to justify him. General Taylor
was very rauch hurt, a.s it induced hira to think that
the Departraent had groAvn unfriendly; but I believe
there Avas no intention Avhatever to derogate from or
interfere Avith the authority of Taylor as the com
manding general at the tirae.
It Avas a mistake, hoAvever, on the part of the Secre
tary, beyond a doubt, and it is equally clear that the
complaints of Taylor tended to hasten his reraoval.
The orders noAv received by Taylor frora General
Scott Avere to send his ivhole command, with the ex
ception of two batteries of light artillery and a squad
ron of dragoons, to Tarapico, Avhere he, General Scott,
Avould meet them in the latter part of this month,
January, or the 1st of February. General Taylor Avas
to return to Monterey and remain on the defensive.
Orders had been dispatched already by Scott to Gen
eral Worth, to move Avith all the regulars, except four
batteries, to Point Isabel, and thus Avas the old hero
stripped. It Avas a hard bloAv, but it Avas met Avith

208 MEMOIRS OF A
the firmness of a soldier and a patriot. Nothing I
ever met with in Plutarch surpasses Taylor's behavior.
Before leaving Victoria he wrote on the 14th to
Major-General Scott :
" Had you. General, relieved me at once from the whole com
mand, and assigned rae to duty under your order or allowed me
to retire from the field, be assured tbat no complaint would have
been heard from rae; but while alraost every man of the regular
force and half the volunteers (now in respectable discipline) are
withdrawn for distant service, it seems that I am expected, with
less than a thousand regulars, and a volunteer force partly of
new levies, to hold a defensive line while a large army of twenty
thousand men is in my front. . . .
"I cannot misunderstand the object of the arrangements indi
cated in your letters. I feel that I have lost the confidence of
the government, or it would not have suffered me to remain up
to this tirae ignorant of its intentions, with so vitally affecting
interests committed to my charge. But however much I may
feel personally mortified and outraged by the course pursued,
unprecedented at least in our own history, I will carry out in good
faith, while I may reraain in Mexico, the views of my govern
ment, though I may be sacrificed in the effort."
General Scott replied on the 26th of January, from
the Brazos :
" If I bad been within easy reach of you at the time I called
for troops from your line of operations, I should, as I had pre
viously assured you, have consulted you fully on all points, and
probably might have modified my call, both as to number and
description of the forces to be taken from or to be left with you.
As it was, I had to act promptly, and to a considerable extent
in the dark. All this, I think, will be apparent to you when
you shall review my letters.
"I hope I have left, or shall leave you, including the new vol
unteers who will soon be up, a competent force to defend the
head of your line (Monterey) and its communications in the

31A RYLAND VOLUNTEER. 209
neighborhood. To enable you to do this more certainly, I must
ask you to abandon Saltillo and to make no detachments, except
for reconnaissances and immediate defense, much beyond Mon
terey. I know this to be tbe wish of the government, founded
on reasons in whicb I concur; among them, that tbe enemy
intends to operate against small detachments and posts.''
General Taylor issued the foUoAving order the day
he left Victoria :
" It is with deep sensibility tbat tbe commanding general finds
himself separated frora the troops he so long coramanded. To
those corps, regular and volunteer, who bad shared with him
the active services of the field, he feels the attachment due such
associations; wbile to those making tbeir first campaign, be
must express his regret tbat he cannot participate witb tbem in
its eventful scenes. To all, both officers and men, he extends
his heartfelt wishes for their continued success and happiness,
confident that tbeir achievements will redound to the credit of
tbeir country and its arms."
Manv an eve was filled Avith tears Avhen this order
was read, for General Taylor possessed the affections
of his soldiers. I called to see him and bid hira
good-by; he receiA^ed me, and I parted from him
not to see him asiain until I saw him on the eastern
portico of the national capitol, being inaugurated
President of the United States of America, as he
deserved to be. 14

210 3IEM0IRS OF A

CHAPTER XX.
DEPARTURE FRO.AI VICTORIA, AND MARCH TO TAMPICO.
¦January 16, 1847. General Taylor left this morn
ing to return to Monterey, taking with him the dra
goons, two batteries, and the Mississippi Rifles. The
Baltimore Battalion struck its tents and marched out
of the carap occupied by it since the 29th ultimo, to
take its place in the column under orders to march to
Tampico. We were still in Brigadier-General Quit
man's Brigade, noAV consisting of the First Georgia,
the Fourth Illinois, and our Battalion, of infantry, and
one corapany of raounted Tennesseans. We con
stituted the Second Brigade of the Volunteer Divi
sion, comraanded by Major-General Patterson ; the
other brigade is coraposed of the First and Second
Tennessee and the Third Illinois regiments of infan
try and the Tennessee regiment of cavalry, with one
section of artillery, under Brigadier-General Gideon
J. Pillow, which marched on yesterday.
On the preceding day, the 14th, Brigadier-General
Twiggs marched Avith the First Division, consisting
of the First, Third, Sixth, and Seventh regular regi
ments of infantry and two companies of rifles. We
are now under the orders df Major-General Winfield
Scott. We marched this day, through an arid and
mountainous country, a south-east course ; the road
Avas very dusty and stony, and the heat intense at

3IA RYLAND VOLUNTEER. 211
noon. Toward evening Ave reached the San Rosa
River, and encamped.
On our march from Monterey, instead of hard
ship-biscuit, flour was issued as the ration of bread ;
Ave had been told that Ave could get hard bread at
Victoria, and such not being the case, there was a
great deal of dissatisfaction. Three tin cupsful of
flour was the issue for three days, which was carried
3n the person in the haversacks of the raen ; to cook
this flour, except in one way, Avas next to impossible
on the raarch : this Avay was to mix it Avith water,
then pour it into a pan in Avhich pork-fat Avas frying,
replace it over the fire, and we had slap-jacks — the
only bread I tasted for Aveeks. This mixture called
bread, Avitli the meat, Avhich was frora cattle on the
hoof, driven Avith the column and slaughtered at the
evening's halt, laid the foundation for the discharge of
many soldiers from the array. It took a strong man
to stand it.
January 17 — Sunday. Last night, after I had laid
down in my blanket, I was aroused by a report that
an express had reached camp Avith a mail direct frora
the United States. I flew through the chaparral,
scratching my hands and tearing my clothes, but Avas
araply rewarded by receiving two letters from home,
Avhich I read over and over again before I turned in
or closed my eyes. The reveille beat this raorning
before daylight, and Ave were on the trarap before sun
rise; our march Avas a very dusty one, but the heat
was not so oppressive as on yesterday; the Sierra
Madre Avas close on our right and throwing off" spurs
or buttresses toward the east; we had to cross hill and

212 31E3IOIRS OF A
dale, up one and over the other for railes, not passing
a single ranch the whole day. The great object of
interest on this Sunday's raarch Avas the President's
raessage, Avhich one of my men had receiA'ed direct
frora his father. Colonel Nathaniel Hickman, of Bal
timore. It was not the message that Ave cared so much
about as the paper upon Avhich it Avas printed ; it
Avas the first fresh thins; Ave had seen for seven months.
We had received letters, but they had a travel-stained
look ; this newspaper had yet the smell and the damp
of the press. I think every man in my company had
it in his hands and handled it with great circumspec
tion and decorum. Sergeant Hickman Avas bv lona;
odds the man of the brigade on this day's march ; the
ncAvs flew like lio-htnin"- that the President's message
to Congress Avas in the Baltimore Battalion, and from
headquarters down, applications carae through staff
officers for its loan.
From the top of a ridge Ave beheld our camping
ground at El Pasto, and pushing on through the mos
chete bushes reached the pond, Avhere Ave halted, and
from the waters of Avhich Ave made slap-jacks for this
and the ensuing days' meals. It Avas a miserable
place, Ave had passed OA^er a miserable countrv, and
we felt raiserable.
January 18. We this raorning buried one of (^'ap-
tain Piper's men ; he Avas sick, too sick to be brought
on this raarch, Avhen Ave left Victoria, and had died
in the wagon on the road. We were ordered off just
as his remains were about being laid in their final
resting place, and Captain Piper's company remained
to pay the last sad duties to a brother soldier.

jy.4iJFL.4jVD VOLUNTEER. 213
This has been the most disagreeable day's march
Ave have had since Ave left the Brazos ; the dust Avas
more than ankle-deep, and the Avind bloAving hard
covered us in clouds, rendering it impossible to see
tAventy ^-ards ahead ; eyes, raouth, and nostrils Avere
nearly closed, and we Avere as black as negroes Avhen
Ave got to camp upon the ArroA-a Alhagilla, in Avliose
gullies Ave found Avater enough for coffee. We passed
to-day many isolated palm-trees, which, Avith their
tufted tops of long green branches, Avere very refresh-
ins: to the si "lit 'when, emertrins frora the clouds of
dust, Ave Avould strike a harder bed of earth not yet
tramped into an impalpable powder.
¦hximary 19. Off" before daylight, our road the
Avhole daA' beino; through a wilderness, nothing more
nor less. Cloudy, and not so dusty ; passed through a
deserted village, the picture of Avretchedness, and
crossed a stream called the Tamisee. Avhere Ave en
camped. We raade eighteen miles to-day, and Avere
pretty tired Avlien Ave halted. Our beef contractor,
Mr. BigloAve, Avhile riding Avith his party ahead of
the column, was attacked to-day by Mexican cavalry,
.shot through the leg, and his party dispersed; he had
been Avarned not to keep out of sight, but Avith the
rashness of his class rode ahead and fell into an am
bush ; he will lose his leg if not his life, for his temerity.
January 20. A long raarch to-day, but rather a
pleasant one. My company, the advance guard, came
up to the Tamisee River again about two railes from
camp; waded through it, Avater very cold; passed
through dense thickets of chaparral and forests of
large palmetto-trees, and came to a ruinous hamlet

214 MEMOIRS OF A
called Panucho; here formerly was a mission of pious
Catholic priests, named the Mission del Refugio, where
the old Spaniards had labored for a century to Chris
tianize the native Mexicans after the conquest. All
gone, priest and peon, Spaniard and Mexican, before
the Great Judge of the quick and the dead. He
will render the proper judgment.
"All in the grave as equals meet;
And God, upon bis judgment seat,
Alike impartially will greet
The mighty and tbe mean."
Being; in the adA'ance, and the weather not uncom-
fortable, Ave raarched rapidly and enjoyed the scenery
Avhich the mountains presented. The sunset Avas
grand, one lofty peak in the fixr distance being lighted
up until it looked like a cone of fire ; looking at it as
Ave did from the natural amphitheatre in Avhich AA'e
Avere, it required but little imagination to realize the
" pillar of fire" before the Israelites in their journey-
ings to the promised land. This peak was formerly
an active volcano, and is named Mount Bernal ; rising
three thousand feet straight up from the plain, its
elevation is so great that it is a noted landmark to
mariners in the Gulf of Mexico.
We encamped upon the banks of a stream among
sorae large beech-trees ; no sooner were arras stacked
than the men hurried off to gather the fruit from the
palms, called the cabbage-tree; Ave had been marching
by them off and on all day, and fortunately halted
near a nuraber. This cabbage groAvs among the leaves
at the top of the trunk, in the tuft which crowns the

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 215
shaft of the tree, and Avhen boiled is a good vegetable,
very savory to those whose palate has been cloyed
Avith slap-jacks and fried beef I never learned Avho
first told our men about this cabbage, but they prized
them highly, and never passed a tree without express
ing an opinion as to the size of the cabbage hid among
the foliage.
January 21. We made a hard raarch of twenty-three
miles to-day, nearly the Avhole of the Georgia regiraent
giving out, and many of our men threw themselves
down, unable or unwilling to keep up with the column.
From one of those inexplicable causes, the advance
started off" at such a cait that the left of the line had
to nearly run to keep up ; the consequence Avas the
column became first straggling, finally broken up. It
Avas fortunate that Ave had a division of troops in
front of us, although I believe we would have done
better had there been apprehension of attack. There
is nothing Avhich frets an officer more than a disorderly
raarch, and this of to-day Avas as bad as I ever saw.
It Avas a cold and storray day, the appearance of
the country rough and rocky. We passed through
the Hacienda Alaraitas, one of the largest in the
country. By hacienda is meant an estate, upon which
the proprietor is surrounded Avith all the buildings
and appurtenances necessary for successful cultivation
of the soil, machinery for the manufacture of its pro
ducts, houses for his tenants or quasi slaves, called
peons, and a church for religious Avorship. The raan
sion of the OAvner Avas a large stone building, quite
respectable in appearance; the church looked Avell,
with a portico of columns recently yellow-washed.

216 31EM0IRS OF A
but the hovels of the peons were nothing like as com
fortable looking as the quarters of the slaves through
out the Southern States of America. This was the
largest country establishment I had seen, and in much
the best condition ; there were large droves of ponies
running about, and such a surplus of corn that our
quartermaster's department purchased and loaded
many Avagonsful. Our arrival caused an immediate
suspension of all out-door and in-door labor, except
that of sight-seeing and indulging in a little harm
less conversation with our troops, through the only
tAvo phrases knoAvn to the brigade, — "Aguardiente?"
" Mucho fandango."
Mount Bernal kept in vieAv until night, and the
chain of raountains on our left hand becarae more
distinct as Ave neared the south, shoAving that Ave Avere
in a valley between the Sierra Madre and a sierra
lying betAveen us and the Gulf
Night came at last, but not until night did Ave cease
marching, and I threw myself on the earth, nearly
broken doAvn from the fatigues of the day, and so
helpless that I Avent to sleep without getting coffee
or anything else for a supper.
¦January 22. Took an early start, although I Avas
so stiff" and sore that I could scarcely move ; passed
through the little village called, I believed, Atamas,
and beheld the glorious Adsion of the lofty peak,
lighted up Avith the rising sun, more beautiful than
Avhen its parting rays had fired its summit Avith a
beacon for the night. Our road noAv lay across a
prairie, upon which large nurabers of horses Avere
grazing; Ave could see around us for miles, and our

3IARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 217
road stretching far aAvay in the distance. There Avas
no straggling over this plain ; apart from reports that
Ave Avould be attacked, our infantry had had sorae
experience, and they marched as compactly as if
closing in mass prior to a deployment. At noon Ave
unexpectedly closed upon the rear of General Pil
low's Brigade, Avhich, like our own, was inarching
slowly; Ave marched together over the prairie, keep
ing a bright lookout ; Ave are evidently nearing the
coast, although the mountains are still on either side
of us. The cactus exceeds in size anything CA'er
seen, and I am sure it Avould appear Munchausenish
if I Avere to attempt to describe it. There are
very large nurabers of horses running Avild over the
plain, niiistangs, jacks, also horned cattle innumer
able. We met a party of Me.xicans en rotite to Vic
toria ; they said that the Mexican Congress had
unanimously determined to continue the Avar "hasta
la muerte. '
Tired enough, aa'c Avere glad to find Avater in a
pond, around Avhich the division Avas regularly en
camped. After the fatigue of a march, the halt and
moA'ements prior to occupying the site designated to
a regiment as its camp are trying beyond description ;
there is nothing a soldier dislikes more than this,
except, after having got through Avith all this march
ing and countermarching before settling doAvn for a
rest, to be called on, as I Avas to-night, to go on guard.
I think that all infantry soldiers Avho have been
thoroughly tired out with marching, entertain a great
liking for the horse-arm of the service, cavalry. They
Avant to ride. Is it to be wondered at ? I had noAv

218 MEMOIRS OF A
walked one hundred and ten miles* in seven consecu
tive days, without counting the miles lost in manoeu
vring for carap, and, tired as I was and foot-sore, to
have to be up all night, because a brother captain,
whose tour of duty it was, played sick, raade me a
very angry man and somewhat disgusted Avith foot-
soldiers. If I had anticipated it during the day's
march, I Avould not have rainded it, being in the
natural order of things; but just as I had got ray
boots off to look at the condition of my soles pre
vious to bathing them (the best of all remedies), to
have to go on guard, be up all night, and raarch all
the following day, was as well calculated to disturb
one's equaniraity as anything one can imagine, par
ticularly as I knew the reason of the officer, Avbose
name preceded mine on the roster for guard, being
sick. The very anger, however, that I felt, " raade
me young again," and I marched off with my guard
sorae eight hundred yards through the prickly branches
of thorn, cactus, moschete, and chaparral generally, to
spend the entire night Availing for the reveille. It
came at last, and in such a way that it is Avorthy of
being noted. It was what Avas called the Texas
* It is rauch more difficult to march with a body of troops
than it is to walk singly; in other words, a man walking alone
can make thirty miles a day, and be not more fatigued after a
week's tramp, than he would be if be had made but one-half the
distance in the same number of days marching witb a brigade.
One hundred men can raarch one hundred miles in less time and
with less fatigue than if the same hundred men were marching
with and forraing a part of a division or an array corps. Every
soldier understands this.

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 219
Reveille, and came from the camp of the Tennessee
regiment of horse attached to Pillow's brigade.
It Avill be readily apprehended that there was not
much music in the array of occupation. Outside of
the regular regiments there Avere but few musical
instruments, except fifes and drums, and of these
there Avas a great scarcity araong the volunteers. The
Texas regiment of horse had no music of any kind,
and, being disturbed in their morning naps at Mon
terey by the music of the troops encamped about
them, had in revenge got up a reveille of their own.
This was that, as soon as a Texan woke up in the
morning and found he could not get to sleep again,
he coraraenced yelling; this very naturally aAvoke
his comrades, and as fast as each man got cleverly
aAvake he united in the cry, and such a din Avas raised
that, laughable as it Avas at first, it became a nuisance
alraost unbearable. Many a sleeper has cursed this
Texan music, but noAv I hailed it Avith pleasure,
coming from tha Tennesseeans, as they heralded the
new-born day Avith their shouts of Avelcome in the
raorning song of military undiscipline.
¦January 23. On returning to camp I was told that
several of our men had been killed yesterday by
the Lancers, who were still hanging about our raarch,
and that one of thera Avas Henry Forbush, a raeraber
of my company. He had fallen out of the ranks,
and, failing to overtake us, I felt uneasy about him,
as he Avas a quiet, obedient, and orderly soldier, and
I knew Avould have come into camp if able to do so.
He was one of ray men that had been detailed to
serve in Ridgely's Battery at Monterey, and Captain

220 3IE3I0IRS OF A
Ridgely told me that his behavior Avas exemplary and
he Avas loth to part with him. I regretted his loss
very much, yet his manner of death Avas of great
service in hindering the men from straggling, and
made them more obedient to authority.
It is also said, that the Mexican merchants who
passed us en route to Victoria were first plundered
and then murdered by their countrymen for alleged
complicity Avith us, of Avhicli they Avere as innocent
as Santa Anna ; and I presume by this time the idea
that he Avas anything but a thorough Mexican has
been entirely dissipated. What sheer nonsense to
have supposed that a man of his distinguished nation
ality Avould have been anything else but a Mexican,
in a Avar popular Avith the entire country. It Avas a
folly unexampled in its magnitude, and Avas near
proving fatal to our success.
After some five or six miles" march the plain fell off
suddenly, and Ave came to a peculiar country, entirely
dissimilar to any heretofore traversed ; it appeared to
be, or to have been, a marshy tiat of rich black soil,
and Avas heavily timbered. While the earth Avas still
Avet it must have been rauch trarapled by cattle, for
now it was in hard lumps, A'ery uneven, making the
marching laborious, — to tender feet, painful, — and
the men suffered or seemed to labor more than usual.
We made very sIoav progress. I Avas near giA'ing out,
but continued the march until Ave halted at a large
lake, or, more properly, lagoon, upon an extensive
flat. This lagoon empties into, or is supplied from, —
I do not knoAv Avhich, — the Tamisee River. Our officers
all think that if Ave had had rain Ave never would

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 221
have been able to have reached this point on foot.
The country evidently for miles is subject to overflow,
and that to such a depth that raen could not have
marched through it. Our opinion is confirmed by
that of the country people, aa-Iio seem astonished that
Ave should have dared to undertake a march to Tam
pico frora Victoria, through the interior of Tamaulipas,
at this season of the year.
There Avas but little AA-ood near our camp, and there
Avas difficulty betAveen our men and some of the other
volunteers about it. as, Avithout Avood to cook coffee
Avith, there Avould be no peace in carap. The rule
established by coramon law or custom, and Avell under
stood iu our army, Avas that all the AVOod st.anding or
felled in front of or in the rear of the space occupied by
the regiment's front belonged to it.
In our order of march, the details for guard Avere
made at roll-call in the morning ; Avhen we halted to
go into camp, if possible ahvays before dark, the
brigade Avas formed in line of battle, Avith the proper
intervals between regiinents, the lines dressed and
standing at attention. The sergeant-major of each
regiment then marched off Avith his detail for grand
guard to the parade, Avhere it Avas turned off by the
assistant adjutant-general to the field-officer of the
day, Avho reported for instructions to the brigade
commander. The regimental camp-guard. Avith its
officer of the day and guard, Avere then turned off by
the regiraental adjutant and raarched to its post;
after these details, left the ranks, arms Avere stacked,
and the accoutrements of each soldier Avere hung
upon his stack, the non-comraissioned officers having

222 MEMOIRS OF A
a separate stack to themselves. In a country scarce
of fuel as this was, all the time these details were
being got ready to march, the rest of the raen were
intently gazing before and behind them to see what
the prospect was for wood.* This evening a large
log, the trunk of a fallen tree, was lying opposite our
right and the left of the regiment on our right. As
soon as ranks were broken, which was nearly simul
taneous, the men of both battalions rushed to the
log, and a free fight sprung up immediately. It Avas
very difficult to say to Avhich regiraent the log be
longed ; but our raen Avere too quick Avith their fists
for the others, and it was dragged, pulled, and rolled
into our carap. The respective carap-guards Avere
already forraed, so that there Avas no difficulty in
preventing a serious disturbance. If this had not
been the case, I think we would have had a good
deal of trouble to-night.
My tent is pitched near to and imraediately facing
the lagoon, upon the dry mud, over which thousands
of cattle must have passed while it was wet, as I had
to have raen beat it down with axes to make a level
to stretch ray blanket for sleep. In the rear is a
thicket, composed, it might be said, entirely of thorns,
for no one Avould dare to enter through the prickly
pear and other stickers, that grow so luxuriantly that
some of these thorns, shaped like the horns of an ox.

* In my company it was not an unusual thing, for the men
to commence picking up wood for tbe night's coffee, as soon as
they left camp in the morning. This tbey would carry until the
evening's halt.

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 223
and from four to five inches in length, are as formi
dable as knives.
Before dark I took a stroll along the shores of the
lagoon; I found an old Mexican, living in a cane hut,
from Avhom I learned that the name of the ranch
Avas La Tuna, the people of Avhich Avere principally
engaged in drying hides, large numbers of Avhich
Avere spread upon the ground, Avith pegs driven
through the edges into the earth to keep them ex
tended ; some hides were also kept stretched by poles
running athwart them, and Avere used as sails for
boats upon the lake.
The word tuna, Avhich gave name to the ranch, or
the ranch to the hamlet, means either the American
fig, fig-tree, or the idle life winch vagabonds lead. I
could not ascertain Avhich signification Avas adopted
by its people, although I tried to learn from my aged
friend, ray Spanish not being quite equal to this case.
During the night, hoAvever, I found it out; at least I
could not help thinking so.
Our men had by some raeans discovered a large
quantity of muscal (an intoxicating drink made from
sugar-cane) in one of the houses near camp, and it
was carried by the camp-kettleful through the guards
into camp. I discovered it by the smell, as it Avas
being brought into my company ; and, notwithstand
ing every effort to destroy it, such large quantities
Avere in camp that Ave had a night of drunkenness
which, once seen, is not desired again. We had not
had such trouble since we left the Brazos, and I
accepted the latter as the proper meaning of La
Tuna.

224 ME3WIRS OF A
January 14:. The Sierra Madre Mountains, it is not
generally known, — because no thought is given to the
subject, — are a prolongation of the Rocky Mountains
of the United States into Mexico, Avhich decreasing
in size and elevation as they trend southAvard, are
finally lost in the Central American States, to be re
produced south of the Isthmus of Panama, in the
Andes of South America. The term Madre, or mother
mountains, is synon3'mous Avith backbone or raain
chain, as used by Americans; and the crest of tliese
mountains, as Ave raarched southAvard, bounded our
horizon on the Avest all the Avay down frora Mon
terey. Their craggy suraraits Avere a never-ending
variety of castle, cathedral, jDalace and spires, fre-
c|uently reproduced by a mirage so Avonderful, as to
make us at times doubt Avhether we Avere not mis
taken in our direction, ,so completely would they be
transposed by the illusion. I neA^er tired of looking
at the varied beauties of these mountains, Avhen the
sun AA'ould first strike their tops in the early morning,
and to-day they seemed so beautiful that I felt sorry
to knoAv Ave were soon to leaA^e them for the uninter
esting flats of the Gulf-coast.
This Avas Sunday, and it seemed as if we always
had harder marching and more trouble on this than
on other days. I Avas assigned to the command of the
rear-guard of three companies of infantry, Avith
special orders to leave nothing behind me. The road
was very bad, several of the Avagons broke down, a
considerable number of the raen were still drunk from
last night's debauch, and had it not been for fear of
the Mexicans, I do not think I could have got them

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 225
all into carap. The raain body, without regard to
the rear, pushed on rapidly, so that when I was in a
condition to move, Ave Avould frequently have to march
so fast to keep Avithin a reasonable distance, that the
stragglers fell out from sheer exhaustion ; these would
beg rae not to leave them, and I had a very trying
day. Towards evening I got up to camp with my charge,
and grateful enough that there Avas no cause of com
plaint at headquarters.
The camp was on the shores of another large fresh
water lagoon, upon which Avas built the old town of
Altamira, and Avith its fine large venerable cathedral,
it looked very pretty rising from the Avaters. This
toAvn was the original settlement on the coast,
Tampico having been founded at a much later
period, and it continued to be for a long tirae the
seat of the Spanish poAver on the Gulf. It was rather
a melancholy sight to behold the signs of decay and
the tumbling into ruin of this old Spanish settlement,
and I thought I could see in the garb and mien of its
inhabitants, the haughty pride and sombre dignity
characteristic of the race that had won, by the SAvord,
a new world for the sovereigns of Castile and Leon.
That we were now approaching the end of our
march was clear from the arrival of a sutler in camp
from Tampico. He brought with him cigars and
potatoes. All who had money, bought; without money
they were not to be had ; no kind of proraise or en
treaty was of any avail; no claira of former acquaint
ance either with self or friend was recognized by that
sutler. He charged just as rauch as he thought he
15

226 3IEM0IRS OF A
could get, and he did get high prices. My purchase
of potatoes was soon in a camp-kettle, and I ate the
first vegetable that I had had since leaving the ship
last July, with the exception of the cabbage-palm ;
and these potatoes, with a tin-cup of vinegar, of Avhich
Ave had had none for a raonth past, gave me a relish
for the cigars known only to tho.se who have been long
deprived of these necessaries of life, — a soldier's life.
Our camp to-night Avas a scene of great noise and
confusion, but not cjuite so bad ns the past one. We
Avere within sixteen or eighteen miles of Tarapico, and
could hear the roar raade by the breakers turabling
in frora the ocean ; the approach to a town had
raised the spirits of the men to the highest pitch, and
liquors flowed from unknown sources through the
swarming hive of the division. A toAvn or city is to
a marching soldier the fountain of life, so long and so
fruitlessly sought by Ponce de Leon. To our battal
ion, the image presented Avas more attractive than that
held up before the followers of Mohammed as their
paradise of repose. A man raised in a city, a genuine
cockney, is nowhere at home except in a crowd of
people, traversing thoroughfares lighted up with shop-
windows, and with resting places for the idle and
thirsty, in drink-shops and billiard-saloons.
Our men were good soldiers, but they were all city-
men, and their absence for nearly eight raonths from
the United States had made thera picture exaggerated
pleasures from a visit to Tampico, which the sutler
had told them was overflowing with attractions from
New Orleans. They were sadly disappointed in the
realization of their fancies ; but it was enough tor the

31A RYLAND VOLUNTEER. 227
present to know, that they Avere approaching a town
that was in direct communication with home.
January 25. After a sultry march of five railes
through a forest of liA^e-oaks and a dense thicket of
chaparral, over a sandy road, Ave Avere halted on the
shore of a lagoon. After half an hour or so we Avere
told that we AA^ere to make our camp here ; if we had
been ordered to raarch back to Monterey it would
not haA^e caused raore vexation. Everybody wanted
to go to Tarapico, which was yet ten miles distant,
and a sullen hum arose through the division, broken
at intervals by anatheraas upon the head of the cora
raanding General. Into camp, hoAvever, Ave went, on
a narrow strip of clear ground, Avhich ran between
the chaparral and the AA'ater ; the ground Avas wet,
and from it a hot steam engendered by the sun arose,
noisome, stifling, and oppressive; the thicket in our
rear was so dense that it Avas useless as a shelter, for
no one dared to force his way through the thorns to
find shade. It Avas a horrid, Ioav, swampy place, and
a large iguana, running frora a tree Avhich was being
burned, gave notice of the kind of reptile by Avhich
it was peopled. This caused a great deal of arause
ment at the time; the men were just getting their
coffee, when this huge lizard, several feet in length,
heated by the fire, ran frora the hollow log Avhich was
being used to cook Avith, and the raen scattered and
ran for some distance before they rallied and captured
it. Many a story was subsequently told of the beha
vior of some of the men on this occasion.
January 26. Our blankets were reeking with
moisture this morning, and the surgeon waited upon

228 ME3I0IRS OF A
General Quitman to inform him that the camp would
prove highly injurious to the health of the command.
The regiraental commanders made a similar remon
strance, and General Quitraan, accorapanied by Major
Buchanan, rode into the city to induce General Pat
terson to order us away frora this place. In addition
to mosquitoes and the usual insects we have been
tormented Avith, we had for companions last night
several A'arieties of pinching-bugs, large spiders, and
Avhat the men seemed to dread more than anything
else, — scorpions ; no doubt about this. I saAV where
one had bitten the leg of a servant ; the bite caused a
Avhitish swelling the size of a hickory nut, but being
proraptly treated by Dr. Miles with hartshorn, the
swelling subsided, and the raan suff'ered no very great
inconvenience, except from fright ; he Avas very much
frightened. We did nothing to-day except lounge about the
shores of the lagoon, talk about scorpions, and catch
and kill big spiders, Avhich Ave were sure Avere the
genuine, original tarantula, carried from here into Italy,
for the dance of the people of that favored land.
Januaiy 27. I have been in some ugly places, but
this is the Avorst camp I was ever in. Our clothes as
Avell as blankets Avere all wet this raorning from the
moisture which permeated through all covering, and
as soon as the sun struck us, we were steaming like
kettles of boiling Avater; there was barely enough
Avood for cooking purposes, so we dried in the sun ;
one of my men said that if he stayed there much
longer his friends Avould not recognize him, as he
could feel the moss growing all over him.

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 229
In the afternoon Ave learned that the application had
met Avith favor, as Avell it raight, and we were ordered
to hold ourselves in readiness to march to-morrow.
¦January 28. After a tiresome march — for it
seeraed as if Ave Avould never reach El Dorado — of
eight miles, for part of the way through groves of
lime- and lemon-trees, Ave reached sorae hills distant
about three railes frora Tarapico, and Avent into camp
on the left of General TAviggs's division.
We had marched one hundred and fifty-six miles
from Victoria, making the Avhole distance frora Mon
terey between three hundred and fifty and three
hundred and sixty railes.
If Ave call it three hundred and fifty railes from
Monterey to Tampico, it Avill be found to approximate
very nearly to the correct distance.
The Baltiraore Battalion has noAv marched upwards
of six hundred miles from the Brazos Santiago, every
foot of Avhich 1 stepped.

CHAPTER XXI.
TAAIPICO — GENERAL SCOTT MARSHALING HIS FORCES
FOR CAPTURE OF VERA CRUZ.
Taaipico, the ancient capital of the Aztec-Mexican
province of Guasteca or Mechoacan, lies on the left
bank of the Panuco River, five miles from its mouth,
in the Gulf of Mexico, in north latitude 22 degrees
40 minutes, and 98 degrees 36 minutes Avest longitude
frora Greenwich.

230 31EM0IRS OF A
It was a famed locality in the days of the Monte-
zumas; and Viejo Tampico, on the opposite side of
the river, was a bishop's see when Panuco was a de
partment of Mexico, in the days of the Viceroys.*
Being the port of entry for the city of San Luis
Potosi and the adjoining State of Queretaro, it has
long had very considerable commerce Avith England,
France, and Spain ; giving in return for their mer
chandise, the precious metals (especially silver in
large quantities), hides and tallow.
Were it not for the bar at the raouth of the river,
rendering access dangerous to vessels of heavy draught,
this port Avould always be desirable, be the power
Avhat it might holding the government of ^lexico, by
reason of its geographical position.
I found it in the occupancy of the United States,
having been taken possession of by Commodore Con
nor of the United States Navy.
The activity, the zeal, and the valuable services of
the navy frora the commencement of hostilities, had
more than justified the high reputation it had Avon
in previous Avars; and its commanding officers in the
Gulf and on the Pacific shore had shown as good
judgment as zeal, in the conduct of their fleets.
* The site and remains of an ancient city have been discov
ered at but a few leagues from Tampico, Among its interesting
features may be noted a wild fig-tree growing in the ruins, which
reaches the gigantic height of more than a hundred feet ; a large
head beautifully cut in stone ; a gigantic turtle, with the bead of
a man protruding from between its highh'-wrought stone shells ;
fragments of obsidian and other curious relics of a people far
advanced iu the arts and habits of semi-civilized races.

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 231
General Scott Avas now about to have its powerful
co-operation in the great enterprise for Avhich he was
marshaling his forces.
General Santa Anna had ordered the evacuation
of Tampico, and this step Avas severely criticised in
Mexico and the United States. He defended his
action on railitary grounds, Avhich are so conclusive
to my mind that they need no argument in support.
He undoubtedly saved its garrison, and by withdraw
ing it to Tula and subsequently to San Luis, had it
Avithin the field of his conteraplated operations.
The array now being concentrated here Avas await
ing the arrival of General Scott.
On the 3d of this month (.January, 1847), haAdng
learned that General Taylor had returned to Victoria
upon finding that Worth's alarm Avas groundless, he
Avrote to Major-General Butler,* the second in com
mand, at Monterey, as foUoAvs :
" Of the nuraber of troops at Tampico and assembled at or in
march for Victoria, — regulars and volunteers, — I can forra only
a very imperfect estimate, having seen no returns of a late date.
I estimate, however, the whole force now under Major-General
Taylor's orders to be about seventeen thousand, — seven of
regulars and ten of volunteers. Two thousand regulars and
five of volunteers I suppose — the whole standing on the defen
sive — to be necessary to bold Monterey, Seralvo, Camargo,
Reynosa, Matamoras, Point Isabel, the Brazos, the mouth of the
E,io Grande, and Tampico. I do not enumerate Saltillo and

* He also stated particularly to Butler, that it was his inten
tion to embark troops frora Tarapico and Brazos for an attack
upon Vera Cruz ; that tbis was tbe object contemplated by his
orders.

232 MEMOIRS OF A
Victoria, because I suppose they may be abandoned or held
without hurting or improving the line of defense I have indicated.
Tou will, therefore, without waiting to hear
from Major-General Taylor, and without the least unnecessary
delay, in order that they may be in tirae, as above, put in raove
raent for the raouth of the Rio Grande the following troops :
"About five hundred regular cavalry of the First and Second
Regiments of Dragoons, including Lieutenant Kearney's troop.
"About five hundred volunteer cavalry, — I rely upon you to
select the best.
" Two field-batteries of light artillery, say Duncan's and Tay
lor's, and
" Four thousand regulars on foot, including artillery acting as
infantry ; tbe whole under Brevet Brigadier-General Worth.
"In addition, put in moveraent for the same point of embark
ation, and to be tbere as above, four thousand volunteer infantry.
^ ^ :'fi :,= '¦'- :^ ^ ^
"P.S. — I expect to be personally at Tampico to superintend
tbat part of my expedition which is to embark there, towards the
end of this month.
"Tbe whole of the eight regiments of new foot volunteers
will be up with tbe Brazos, I hope, by that time. Major-General
Taylor may rely upon three, if not four of them, for bis im
mediate commaud ; and make your calculations now for him
accordingly." At the date of these interesting instructions, the
premonitions Avhich that very distinguished soldier
General Worth had of being attacked, the fact that
General Santa Anna Avas massing an army at San
Luis, the fact that Taylor was to act on the defensive
after Worth and his best troops were withdrawn, Avith
an uncertain reinforceraent of neAV regiinents to re
place thera, seera to haA^e been overlooked, ignored, or
totally unknoAvn, by General Scott.
General Taylor Avas instructed not only to act on

31A RYLAND VOLUNTEER. 233
the defensive, but to enable him to do this, detached
posts were to be held, scattered over a hostile terri
tory Avith the Rio Grande as a base, Avhose navigation,
as Scott Avell knew, was so uncertain that for days
steamers could neither ascend «or descend it.
The garae of cross purposes inaugurated by Ampudia
at Monterey was being continued by the tAvo chiefs of
rival armies, both alike distinguished as skillful and
experienced generals, while he Avho Avas to be shelved
in the coming struggle, or else ignominiously driven
off the fields he had Avon by his valor, was destined
to reap additional laurels, and save the name, and the
array of him Avho had, perhaps unwittingly, deprived
him of his coraraand.
Scott, intent upon Vera Cruz and the city of Mexico,
looked but to this road. Santa Anna, intent upon
crushing Taylor, never deigned a glance at the gather
ing hosts threatening his Capital.
Buena Vista Avas between San Luis and Monterey ;
General Taylor betAveen Scott and the loss of fame
and name.
The friends of Santa Anna say, that he Avas not
ignorant of the danger he had exposed the Capital to
by operating in the northern States, but that he had
left the governraent to take care of the road frora the
Gulf The friends of Scott say, that Taylor himself
did not apprehend the advance from San Luis.
If Scott Avere ignorant of the strength of the army
at San Luis, he is less blameable than Santa Anna ;
if the latter had reason to believe his government
could protect its Capital, he is less obnoxious to cen
sure than Scott ; the whole truth is, hoAvever, that

234 MEMOIRS OF A
ihey Avere alike indifferent as to the other's purposes
or means of accomplishing results, violating a maxim
of war which tyros in the military art are familiar Avith.
January 29. Our camp is now on an elevated
piece of land which .separates the lagoons Avhich
floAV, the one into the Gulf, the other into the Panuco.
On our right, the Georgians are encamped ; on our
left. General Shields's brigade, consisting of the Third
and Fourth Illinois regiments ; * in front of us TAviggs's
division is lying. The different beats and calls of
each regiment are distinctly heard in our camp, and
military rausic — druras, fifes, and bands — is sounding
at all hours of the day. The main building of the
hacienda or sugar estate upon Avhich Ave are encamped
is within a stone's throw of my tent, and I frequently
visit it. The huts in which the peons live are like
those I have heretofore spoken of, made of cane and
reeds, Avith interstices through Avliich the Indian-look
ing Avomeu raay at all tiraes be seen crushing or
grinding the corn for their tortillas or corn-cakes, as
Ave Avould call thera ; the raen are at AVork in the ad
jacent fields, cutting the sugar-cane or grinding out
the juice with the huge Avooden rollers of the sugar-mill,
or else drying and making jerked beef out of the long
strips of meat, cut from the beeves just slaughtered.
The revenue of this estate, derived from the sale
of hides, talloAV, and sugar, is very large; and the
owner, having fought with the famous Guarda Costa
of Tampico, at Palo Alto and Resaca, is left at liberty
* The Third was commanded by Colonel Ferris Forman, and
the Fourth by Colonel Edward D. Baker.

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 235
to reap some of the profits, as he had shared in the
disasters, of the war.
Borrowing a horse from the adjutant, I rode into
Tampico ; a large number of troops were constructing
elaborate fortifications landward, steam vessels of war
in the river; a battery Avas drilling in the plaza, a
heavy guard marching off with field music ; well-
dressed, business-looking citizens bustling over the
side flagstones of paved streets, well-looking ladies
flitting along, in and out of handsome stores, life and
activity everywhere visible, and the hum of trade
perceptible. I visited the •' Coraraercial Exchange'" in the raain
plaza : a coff'ee-house Avith handsomely decorated
apartraents, billiard-rooras, private parlors, etc., Avhich
Avould be considered good in any capital city. I ate
a raeal here which, if not couleur de rose, gave that
tinge to all I saAV. Seven months Avithout a decent
meal is a good appetizer, and the prospect of visiting
the theatre ut night (which I did) Avas a dish fit to
set before the king.
Riding homcAvard, General Persifer F. Sraith over
took and joined rae ; the sand in the road was ankle-
deep, — over the horses' fetlocks ; as we rode along, I
saAV a silver dollar lying in the sand ; to stop and
pick it up Avas soon done; remounting, I told the
General, and before going a half dozen yards I was off
ray horse again, and picked up another dollar ; re
mounting, the General said we had better change
sides so as to give him a chance, as Ave Avere certainly
on the road to fortune. I agreed, and he took my
side of the road ; going on, Ave both kept our eyes on

236 31 E MO IRS OF A
the sand, when I perceived the bright face of another
dollar, which I secured. We Avere both now full of
laugh, and I believe he was just going to dismount, —
at least I charged him with it, — when I found half-
buried in the sand the woolen sock of a soldier, in
which there were thirty-four silver Mexican dollars,
and one-half of a dollar, making Avith the three
Avhich I had picked up, a total of thirty-seven dollars
and fifty cents.
The General claimed halves, and I agreed to give
it, provided I did not find the right owner ; Ave both
concurring that it belonged to some soldier, who after
having been paid off" in toAvn, had got drunk and lost
his money on the way to camp.
I gave notice to the various camps, and many an ap
plicant came for the money, and many and various Avere
the schemes to get it from me. It Avas a source of a
great deal of amusement, and finally the loser made
his appearance, but not until several days after ray
finding it. His narae Avas Abrahara Murphy, of the
Third United States Infantry, and his behavior was
interesting; he Avanted, evidently, to reward me for
finding his money, to give me some of it; but he
knew how improper that would be, for he Avas a dis
ciplined soldier, Avith proper sensibilities, and his era
barrassraent was very expressive. He thanked me,
left, and I never saw him again.
February 14 — Sunday night. We have had raore
than a Aveek of continuous bad Aveather ; rain-storms
daily. My dilapidated tent leaks; being a line officer
there is no fly; and the earth is Avet beneath my feet,
no amount of ditching sufficing to keep it dry. I

3IARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 237
went out to listen to the music of the Second In
fantry's band ; the sergeants Avere calling the regular
tattoo roll-call, the rain fixlling on the groups assembled
on their company parades, as each answered quietly
to his name. The night Avas intensely dark, and the
total absence of all life or animation save the dull
rolling of the drums beating tattoo gave a sombre
cast to ray feelings, in unison with the heavy gloora
and silence of the camp. For two Aveeks we have
been doing nothing; no drills, no news, nothing but
rains and storms. The raen are complaining ; for
nearly six months' pay is due them, they coraplain of
their rations, and are ragged and nearly barefoot ; Ave
are Avithout one scrap of news, knowing nothing of
our probable moA-ements, and the monotony has be
corae so wearisorae that even rumor has silenced its
tongue for Avant of thought. But one question is now
asked : '• Has General Scott arrived ?" and the sarae
answer heard, ''No; he is expected this CA'cning."
Everything revolves around this centre. He has been
expected daily since our two divisions of Taylor's
army arrived here ; no one blames him, for each man
knoAvs that Vera Cruz and the plans for its capture
are of more importance than a soldier's restlessness
or a soldier's grumbling. None of the new troops of
which Ave have heard so much have as yet arrived,
except a volunteer regiment from New York, and
they were scanned by our soldiers with much curiosity
and interest. I met three Baltimoreans in town yes
terday, Messrs. George Bradford, Robert Armstrong,
and Richard Edes ; they came to seek sorae position
in the army, with no very definite idea, I think, of

238 MEMOIRS OF A
what was before them, and I know not what success
they have met with. Such weather as this, if it does
not dampen their ardor, will at least Avarn them what
they may expect, and may determine their future
action. February 16. Our battalion has been paid today
all arrearages due up to Deceraber 31, 1846, and the
officers and men are as bright and as full of life as if
the past eight raonths had been a season of uninter
rupted happiness. With the proraise of an issue to
them of ncAv clothing and new shoes, they are as gay
as boys home for the Christraas holidays, and it is a
pleasure to see them so happy.
February 19. The sound of heavy guns firing a
salute announced to-day the long-looked-for arrival
of General Scott; and I rode in to the city to see
him, as I had never had that pleasure, and to learn
the neAvs.
The city was in a fever of excitement, the streets
and the plaza thronged with soldiers and citizens,
drums beating, cannon firing, troops marching, bat
teries hurrying along, and all the indescribable in
cidents to an army roused to action were in motion
and replete with interest. The ladies crowded the
streets, dressed in a style which astonished me. I
never saw anywhere more fashionably dressed women,
European in everything, except where Parisian modes
fail; the head, adorned with their beautiful black hair,
braided so as to expose a rare flower, Avas slightly
covered with the rebosa*, of gaudy pattern, Avhich fell
* A long, narrow shawl worn by all classes of the Tampicoans,
as the only covering for the head.

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 239
gracefully over their shoulders. With their inimita
ble carriage, the birthright of a Spaniard, no one
Avould suppose that aught but the blood of Castile or
Aragon Avas coursing in their veins ; they were
Mexicans, yet they Avere Avomen, and their curiosity
to see General Scott subdued their repugnance to the
Llanquiesf In the centre of the plaza, the fine band of
one of the artillery regiraents Avas playing, surrounded
by a dense mass of soldiers of all arms, and sailors
from the men-of-Avar in port. The adjacent coffee
houses were filled with officers, and ruraor, her tongue
now again free, filled Tarapico with the buzz of her
joy. Everybody talked, everybody knew Avhat was
just told hira, everybody Avas delighted, and every
body made a night of it, except the toAvn-guard, and it
had a night of it, for there Avas the sound of revelry
on the banks of the Panuco. Drunken soldiers and
drunken sailors fraternized, and the long bitter oath of
the Avestern volunteer and teamster drowned the car-
araba of the Mexican. The full raoon came up to lighten
the scene, Avhile the gloAving fires and the fiery furnaces
of the steamers in the river threw a lurid glare upon
the heavy armaraents bristling upon their decks.
The sharp challenge of " Who coraes there ?" Avas
answered, and " Boat ahoy !" was followed by the
plunge of oars, deep into the raorning watch. Every
thing Avas overfloAving Avith enthusiasra and life on
the eve of the descent upon Vera Cruz, for it Avas an-
* This is the way I saw the word Yankees spelled, written
with chalk on a wall, and it was some time before I could make
out what it meant.

240 31 E MO IRS OF A
nounced that this was the step noAV to be taken. In
that mass of men, not one reckoned the cost, not one
doubted the success, not one thought of the future.
I did not see General Scott, as he Avas closely en
gaged with the chiefs of divisions, preparing his orders
and necessary details ; and I returned to camp, Avhere
my arrival was awaited Avith anxiety, as it was sup
posed that I Avould be able to tell Avhat were to be
our orders.
February 25. The orders are out, and Ave are to
remain. Colonel De Russey's Regiraent of Louisiana
Volunteers, the Baltimore Battalion, and Captain
Wyse's Battery of Regular Artillery, are to constitute
the garrison of Tarapico, Avith Colonel Williara Gates,
of the Third Artillery, U. S. Array, comraanding.
The good narae and reputation of the Baltimore
Battalion Avere now unequivocally established, and
its designation as a portion of the garrison of this im
portant city Avas due as much to this, as to the sig
nal ability and military appreciation of the worth of
Major Robert C. Buchanan, our comraanding officer,
Avhose valuable serAdces were thus secured to the sup
port of Colonel Gates.
We marched in on the sarae day, and I was assigned
to the coraraand of a fort on the eastern defenses of
the city, arraed Avith four eighteen- and four thirty-
tAvo-pound guns, Avith a detail of sixty picked men
from the battalion, to be drilled in the manual of
heavy artillery, for service of the guns.

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 241
CHAPTER XXII.
TA.A[PICO.
On the 19th of February, 1847, Colonel J. G. Tot-
ten, Chief of the Corps of Eugineer.s, raade the foUoAV-
ing report to General Scott, at Tarapico :
"Sir, — I have to report, for the information of the Gener.al, that
I bave this day examined witb care the works lately thrown up
for the defense of tbe two avenues into tbis town. These works
are nearly complete, and it gives rae great satisfaction to state my
opinion that they have been planned with judgraent and executed
with .skill ; nothing less, however, was to have been expected
from the officers who bave been engaged thereon, namely : Cap
tain Barnard and Lieutenant Beauregard, of the Engineers, as
sisted for the greater part of the time by Lieutenants Goppee,
of the artillery, and Woods, of the infantiy. Lieutenants McGil-
ton, G. P. Andrews, and Sears, are reported to have rendered
valuable aid, though for shorter periods.
"Although the defensive lines were designed to raeet the case
of a weak garrison, aud rauch talent has been displayed in profit
ing by local circurastances to that end, still, the space to be
covered is large, and even a minimum garrison must consist
of a considerable body of raen. I do not now take into account
the value of tbe object covered. If its iraportance be sucb as
to justify the leaving of a garrison at all, that garrison must
be able to maintain itself for sorae tirae, entirely independent of
succor from luithout; any less garrison ive anight e-xpect to lose.
" Knowing how important it may be to other issues of the ap
proaching campaign to take hence all the force that can be
spared, I have looked at the subject with a sincere desire to
reduce to the utraost my estiraate of the numbers indispensable
to an efiicient defense ; but I have not been able to reduce it
below the following figures. 16

242 3IE310IRS OF A
"Along the Allaneira front of the town, there are eight distinct
works requiring garrisons, varying, according to magnitude or
position, from twenty men to one hundred and twenty meo
each, at least, — provision being made for mounting thereon
twenty-six pieces of artillery.
"The aggregate of these posts will be . • .540 men.
" Pteserve of four companies .... 320 "

"Giving ... .... 860
" On the canal front, at the other extremity of the
town, tbere will be needed in these posts 200

"Total . . . 1060 "
" Making a total of, say, one thousand men.
" There should also be a reserve on the canal front of not less
than two hundred men, making the whole force of that front
four hundred raen, and the total force twelve hundred men ; but,
in my desire to reduce the estimate, I have omitted this reserve,
on the supposition that a body of at least two hundred volun
teers may be raised at a moraent of need araong the residents of
Tarapico. "Twenty-four pieces of artillery are actually mounted in the
several works, which ordnance should be left in the hands of the
regular artillery only. I have, therefore, in conclusion, to recora-
niend to the General-in-Chief that there be left for the defense of
Tarapico a force of not less than one thousand effective men,
with twenty-four pieces of artillery; of which force, one full
company, at least, should be of regular artillery.
" I purpose leaving orders with Lieutenant Beauregard to com
plete tbe defenses at once, so that he may be in tirae to afford his
aid in tbe contemplated operations at Vera Cruz.
" I have the honor to be, etc.,
" (Signed; " Joseph G. Tottex,
" Colonel and Chief Engineer."
On the sarae day, doubtless after the receipt of
Colonel Totten's report. General Scott issued the
following instructions to General Patterson :

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 243
" Sir, — I am desirous tbat, after designating a comiietent
garrison for the defense of this place (Tarapico), the strength
and coraposition of which will be given below, the whole of
the reraaining forces under your command should be promptly
embarked and dispatched to ihe harbor behind the island of
Lobos, some sixty railes south of this place, there to await fur
ther orders. . . Should I have left that rendezvous
before your arrival, you will please direct all vessels of the ex
pedition you may find there to join rae off Anton Lizardo, and
follow yourself to that anchorage ; but I shall exceedingly regret
to leave Lobos before you are up with me.
"The garrison to be left for holding and defending tbis posi
tion may be one corapany of artillery, tbe Maryland and District
of Columbia Battalion of Volunteers, and the Louisiana Regi
ment of Volunteers ; thewhole under the command of Colonel
Gates, of the Third United States Artillery. You will please
give hira such instructions as the iraportance of the place evi
dently requires. His command will coramence frora the time
he sball find himself the senior officer at that place.
" Besides tbe troops mentioned above for the garrison of this
place, there will no doubt be a number of men in hospital — in
valids and convalescents left by other regiments found — available
in emergency. " I remain, ^ir, etc.,
"..Signed, - AVixrjELD Scott."
It will be perceived, from Colonel Totten's report,
thiit he kncAV that the mora.ent the army left, the
garrison of Tampico Avould have to maintain itself
independent of any succor from Avithout; and General
Scott, Avhile himself selecting the troops destined
for the garrison, carefully avoided express instructions
to General Patterson. He Avas well acquainted Avith
De Russy and Buchanan ; they Avere both graduates
of West Point, and De Russy had been a captain of
artillery in the regular array, so that corapelled as he

244 31E3I0IRS OP A
Av.as to leave so .small a force as one thousand men, he
at least deterrained to leave good officers ; } et he
hesitated to direct by command, Geneml Patterson to
detail the garrison. Patterson avoided all responsi
bility, as he had a right to do, and adopted the recom
mendation of Scott, and the garrison of Tampico Avas
thus constituted and organized. If the expedition to
Vera Cruz should prove successful, this garrison could
maintain itself; but should that expedition fail, we
Avould have been badly situated, as the nearest help
Avould have to be looked for from General Taylor,
distant three hundred and fifty miles, at Monterey.
The navy Avould have proA'ed a powerful and ready
ally in case of need, but I am only speaking of the
military features incident to the defense ; however,
Colonel Gates Avas a very cautious commandant, — in
deed. Ave thought that he kept us too much on the
alert, for Ave were nearly all the time apjprehensive of
a real or imaginary attack.
We Avill noAv folloAV General Scott. On the 2 Sth
of February he Avrote from the Massachusetts, off
Lobos Island, to the Secretary of War :
" Sir, — I left the Brazos the 15tb and Tampico the 20th in
stant, having done much official business at the latter place, in a
delay of some thirty hours. . Perhaps no expedition
was ever so unaccountably delayed, — by no want of foresight,
arrangement or energy on my part, as I dare affirm, — under cir
cumstances the raost critical to tbis entire army ; for everybody
relied upon knew from tbe first, as well as I knew, that it would be
fatal to us to attempt military operations on tbe coast after prob
ably the first week in April, and here we are at the end of February.
"Nevertheless, this army is in heart; and crippled as I ara
in tbe raeans required and promised, I sball go forward, and ex-

31A RYLAND VOLUNTEER. 245
pect to take Vera Cruz and its castle in time to escape, by pur-
siiing the enemy, the pestilence of the coast.
* ;it * * * * * *
" We find tbis harbor a^-ainst northers even better tban I had
anticipated. One has now been blowing sorae forty hours, and
has brought down all the vessels ready to sail that were outside
of the l)ars at the Brazos and Tarapico. The next will take the
fleet to Anton Lizardo, whither I am sending. off ships with surf-
boats, in order tbat the latter may be launched under the care of
the navy, and held ready for ray arrival. . . . The island
(Lobos) bas afforded tbe volunteers raeans of healthy military
exercises, and tolerable drinking-water. The few surf-boats
landed are admirable fitted for the purposes intended."
In connection Avith this initial step, — the capture
of Vera Cruz by Major-General Scott, — I find place
for two letters frora Coraniodore Connor, interesting
for the matters embraced in them, but still more as
shoAving the zealous co-operation and essential value
of the services of the navy, in this first effort by our
government to combine the poAver of the land and
naval forces of the republic, in an attack upon a foreign
port of any magnitude.
" Commodore Connor to 3[a.jor-General Scott.
¦¦ TJ. .S. Frigate R.uiit.vx,
Anton" Lizakdo, .Tanuary 11, 1847.
" Sir, — Your esteemed favor of tbe 23d ultimo was received
two days since by the United States ship Albany, from Pensaeola.
"I had received, some days previously, communications from
the Xavy Departraent, apprising me of your being about to take
command of the army in Me.xico, and of the joint operations
contemplated against the enera\'. In the prosecution of these
measures, you may rely on the cordial co-operation of tbe naval
forces under my command.
" In consequence of some apprehensions being entertained of
an attack from Mexican privateers, supposed to be fitting out iu

246 3IE3I0IRS OF A
the island of Cuba, I dispatched the St. Mary's some days since
to the Brazos for the protection of the transports before that
place. Coramander Sanders is directed to perform any service
you may require of him ; and as I attach little credit to the
report concerning the privateers, the St. ]Mary's raight be with
drawn frora the Brazos without much risk to tbe transports, to
carry your dispatches to rae or to Tarapico, should you wish to
communicate with tbat place. I would eraploy steamboats for
tbe purpose of communicating with you ; but, unfortunately,
with the exception of the Princeton (and she is in very bad con
dition. .Uld scarcely fit to keep the sea), I have no steamer that
is capable of making the passage to the Brazos with certainty or
safety at this season of the year.
" My information from the shore in regard to the movements
of the eneray has not of late been either so full or so exact as
could be desired. From a source, however, which I believe mav
be relied upon. I learn tbat there are now about one thousand
men in the castle, and in the town, eighteen hundred efi'ective
men, independent of tbe town militia, who do not amount to one
thousand men. The provisions in the town or castle seldom or
never exceed a ..^ui)ply for three or four davs. In this matter all
accounts concur. I am not aware of tbere being any regular
force of any consequence between Vera Cruz and Mexico.
Tbere possibly may be a reciment or more at Xalapa, and also
at La Puebia and tbe citv of ^Mexico ; but tbis I think doubtful,
as great exertions bave been made by Santa Anna to assemble
tbe whole regular force of tbe country at San Luis. Tbe
National Guards, or such numbers as can be armed, have in some
instances garrisoned the towns frora whicb the troops of the line
have been withdrawn. Such it is believed has been the case in
most if not all of those above mentioned. I am therefore of
opinion little opposition is to be expected from anythinu'- like a
regular army in your descent on the coast, or from any other
force tban that within tbe city of Vera Cruz. Nor do I believe
it in tbe power of the Mexican governraent to assemble a force
in a reasonable time in the neighborhood of tbe city sufficient
for its protection.
" No neutral vessels are permi ted to enter or depart from tbe

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 247
harbor of Vera Cruz, except tho English steam packets that
arrive on tbe llth and sail on the 2d of every raonth. Y^our
agents may either avail themselves of these vessels, which I will
direct to be boarded at their departure, or be conveyed on board
the vessels blockading the port, by means of the fishing boats,
which are still allowed to pa.ss out to sea for the purpose of
fishing. " The vessels of tbe squadron have all been withdrawn frora
Tampico ; but I will send one to that place without delay, for
the purpose of bringing any dispatch you raay find it convenient
to ^end to tbat place for rae.
I am informed there is good shelter at the Isle of Lobos for
any number of vessels ; but no water is to be obtained there.
Nevertheless, it is highly important the transports employed
should be well found witb ground tackle, to enable them even in
the most sheltered positions to ride out in safety the sudden and
violent gales from the north, so frequent at this season of the
year. Tbis anchorage is considered one of the best and safest
ou the coast, j-et iu the gale of the 2Ith of November three ves
sels either foundered or were driven on shore from their anchors
in this road, and lost A gale i.-; now blowing, in which, during
tbe last night, this ship parted one of ber best cables, and was
only :?aved from imminent danger of being wrecked by others
which were down bringing her up.
" Sorae reduction has occurred lately in the naval force in the
Gulf, by the withdrawal of the Cumberland and Mississippi.
Still, it is probable I should be able to land upwards of six
hundred seamen and marines.
"I have the honor, etc., etc., " D. CONNOK. '

" U. S. Ship Eakitan,
Anton Lizardo, .January 18, 1847.
" Sir, — ^Y'our esteemed favor of the 26th ultimo, accompanied
Ijy a duplicate of your communication of December 23d, dated
at New Orleans, was handed to rae yesterday afternoon by
Lieutenant Rains. My reply to the latter was dispatched some

248 31E310IRS OF A
days since to Brazos Santiago, in a prize schooner, under charge
of Lieutenant Commanding Smith. By this tirae it has prob
ably reached its address.
" The present would be the raost favorable time for the con
templated attack upon Vera Cruz. There is every reason to be
lieve the information contained in my former communication, as
to the force now in tbe castle and town, correct. Provisions for
the garrison are obtained with tbe greatest difficulty, and in
quantities sufficient only to last from day to day. Tbe supplies
at present in tbe castle may be perhaps enough for a week or
ten days at the utraost, all accounts agreeing that there are no
salt provisions in either. So far as I ara able to judge, I am of
opinion that if four or five thousand troops could be landed in
the neitihborhood of Vera Cruz by the end of this month or the
beginning of tbe next, so as completely to invest the place, and
cut off all communication with the country, its surrender, in less
than ten days, with that of the castle, would be certain, aud
probably without the necessity of firing a gun.
" Tbe best point for landing can readily be ascertained on your
arrival, after an examination of tbe coast. Indeed, in my opinion,
tbere are but two points at all eligible for tbis purpose — one on
tbe beach, due west from Sacrificios; tbe other on tbe shores of
this anchorage.
•'I have .already given you such information as I possessed
in relation to tbe anchorage at Lobos. It is perfectly safe and
easy of access. ' Blunt's Coast Pilot' contains full and exact
directions for the entrance. Pilots can be procured, should they
be deeraed necessary, at Tarapico.
" I would advise by all means that the transports which pass
Lobos be directed to rendezvous at Anton Lizardo, instead of
Sacrificios. The anchorage at the latter place, not already occu
pied by foreign men-of-war, is unsafe at tbis season of the year ;
that of Anton Lizardo, as 1 have before stated, the safest and
best on the coast, and sufficiently extensive for two or tbree
hundred sail. No apprehensions are as yet entertained at Vera
Cruz of tbe design contemplated against the place. But it is to
be feared that, before long, the movements of the army and other
indications raay excite suspicion. It would indeed be greatly to

31A RYLAND VOLUNTEER. 249
be regretted should so favorable an opportunity of making a
successful attack on the town, as the present, pass without your
being able to avail yourself of it.
" Accounts received bere state that General Wool had joined
General Worth at Monterey, about tbe 1st of .lanuary. The forces
of Santa Anna had commenced their advance .some days previ-
ouslv from San Luis to Saltillo. The return of General Taylor
to Monterey, wbich from all accounts seeras likely, will probably
have the effect of retarding 3-our movement..; sorae weeks.
" I have the honor to be your obedient servant, " D. Connor,
'¦ Commanding Home Squadron
" Hajor-(ieneral Scott."
As early as Deceraber 20, 1846. General Scott
wrote to General Taylor, from New Orleans :
'• The particular expedition I am to conduct is
destined again.st Vera Cruz, and through it tbe Ca.-ile of San
Juan d'Ulloa, so as to open, if we are successful, a new and
shorter line of operations upon the capital of Mexico.
"The flrst great ditficultv is to get together, in time, and
afloat, off the Brazos, a sufiicient force to give us a reasonable
prospect of success before the usual period — say the end of
March — for tbe return of the black vomit on tbe coast of
Mexico. "I bave supposed fifteen thousand land troops, including five
of regulars, and tbe co-operation of the blockading squadron, to be
desirable, if not absolutely necessary, but ara now inclined to
raove forward to tbe attack should I be able to assemble tbe
five thousand regulars, and, say, three of volunteers.
" To raake up the force for the new expedition, I foresee tbat
I shall, as I intiraated in ray letter, of which I enclose a copv,
be obliged to reduce you to the defensive at the moment when
it would be of tbe greatest iraportance to the success of my ex
pedition that you should be in strength to manoeuvre offensively
upon San Luis de Potosi, etc."
The elucidation of what I have meant by cross-

250 3IE3IOIRS OF A
purposes, and the key to the approaching grand suc
cesses, is to be found in the concluding lines of the
above extract.
On the 1st day of February, 1847, Santa Anna
had the game in his OAvn hands. Taylor Avas too
Aveak to act offensively toward San Luis; Scott had,
by no fault of his, lost precious time ; yet, Avith the
road open and the troops at coraraand, Santa Anna
elected to march away from his Capital to attack
Taylor. Nothing but the certainty, the absolute cer
tainty, of success, Avould have justified this raoA^ement.
Doubtless he thought that he could crush Taylor ;
but — he was raistaken, mainly because he did not
properly appreciate the character of his antagonist.
He estimated the number of troops he had to en
counter, not the Aveight of the hero at their head.
We raust adA'ance a little in the order of time to
see how thoroughly the governraent at Washington
Avas alarraed at the status of the Avar, before informa
tion reached it of Taylor's success at Buena Vista,
and necessarily of the result of Scott's expedition to
Vera Cruz.
The subjoined letter, from the able pen of the dis
tinguished Secretary of War, Hon. W. L. Marcy, to
Major-General Winfield Scott, is a compendium of his
tory in itself, and the best commentary ever written,
on the conduct of the Avar in the Valley of the Rio
Grande, subsequent to the Avithdrawal frora Taylor of
the army Avith Avhich he had stormed and carried the
city of Monterey :

31 A RYLAND VOLUNTEER. 251
" War Dkpartment, March 22. 1847.
" Sir, — The inforraation which has just reached us, in the
shape of rumors, as to the situation of (ieneral Taylor and the
forces under his command, has excited the raost painful appre
hensions for their safety. It is alraost certain that Santa Anna
has precipitated the large army he had collected at San Luis de
Potosi upon General Taylor; and it may be that the General bas
not been able to maintain the advanced position he had seen fit
to take at Agua Nueva, but has been obliged to fall back on
Monterev It is equally certain that a Mexican force has been
interposed between ^Monterev and the Rio Grande, and tbat it
has interrupted the line of coraraunication between the two
places and seized large supplies which were on the way to Gen
eral Taylor's array.
"If tbe hostile force between the Rio Grande and General
Taylor's array is as large as reports represent it, our troops now
ou tbat river niav not be able to re-establish tbe line, nor will it,
perhaps, be possible to place a force there sufficient for the purpose
in time to prevent disastrous consequences to our array, unle.-?.s aid
can be afi'orded frora the troops under your imniediate coinmaiid.
" From one to two thousand of the new recruits for tbe ten
regiments from this quarter will be on tbe way to tbe Brazos iu
the course of three or four days. All tbe other forces will be
directed to tbat point, and every efibrt made to relieve General
Taylor from his critical situation. Y''ou will have been fully
apprised, before this can reach you, of tbe condition of things
in the Vallev of the Rio Grande and at the headquarters of
General Taylor, and bave taken, I trust, sucb raeasures as the
importance of the subject requires. I need not urge upon \-ou
the fatal consequences which would result from any serious di.s-
aster which might befall tfae army under General Taylor, nor do
I doubt that you will do what is iu your power to avert such a
calamity. • "A state of things may exist on tbe Pvio Grande and at Mon
terey whicb will require that a part of your forces, after the
capture of Vera Cruz and the reduction of the castle of San
Juan d'Ulloa, should return to Tampico or tbe Brazos, to carry
on operations from these points. Itis here deemed of the utmost

252 MEMOIRS OF A
importance that the line of the Rio Grande should be main
tained, and that Monterey should be held by our forces. You
will be kept advised of all done here to sustain General Taylor
and augment the forces under him. In ignorance of wbat may
be your own situation, and what may be required for the relief
of General Taylor, I can give no distinct indication of what is
deemed proper for you to do, if anything, beyond wbat you may
have already done, but must request that no assistance which
you can render, without too much hazard to your own opera
tions, and he may need, should be withheld.
" I herewith send you a copy of a letter addressed to G-eneral
Brooke. You will learn, as soon as it can be known here, what
action he will take under the authority therein given to bim. I
also enclose herewith a dispatch frora the Secretary of the Navy
to the coraraander of our squadron in tbe Gulf
" Very respectfully, etc., " ( Signed ) " AV. L. Marct.
"To Major-General Scott, etc.
"P.S. — I have just received your letters of the 23d ult. and
1st instant."
If such Avas the alarm in Washington, then ours
in Tampico raay be readily imagined. We were at
our guns night and day, for Ave kneAv not at Avhat
moraent after the departure of Scott's array Ave would
be attacked, it being generally rumored and credited,
that Santa Anna had abandoned his forAvard move
raent frora San Luis, and Avould debouch from the
Tula Pass upon Tampico to strike Scott's base.
But let us return to the expedition on Vera Cruz ;
for, although its success Avas subsequent to Taylor's
at Buena Vista, Ave Avill foUoAV it so as to continue
the thread of our narration.
At the time I paid a visit to General Taylor at
Victoria, in January, 1847, I found him engaged
reading a work on Vera Cruz and its castle. Several

31 A RYLAND VOLUNTEER. 253
maps and charts Avere lying about him, and I Avas
satisfied that the General at that time was deliber
ating upon an attack on Vera Cruz, or an advance on
that line to the city of Mexico. It Avill be remera
bered that Ave Avere then on the march frora Monterey
to Tampico, and that in a few days thereafter General
Taylor Avas superseded by General Scott as chief in
comraand, and retired to Monterey.
Before General Scott left the United States, he had
subraitted several projects to the goA'ernment for the
capture of Vera Cruz, and he inaugurated his advent
into Mexico by his preparations for that enterprise.
All that he did Avas planned according to railitary
art, and Avas successfully executed.
Vera Cruz was defended on the land side by several
redoubts, mounting seA'enty guns, and Avas garrisoned
by three thousand men. The strength of the city as
a military position, however, Avas, or was supposed to
be, in the castle of San Juan d'Ulloa. This fortress,
built upon a reef of coral rock at about the distance
of one thousand yards north-east and immediately in
front of the city, on the sea side, mounted upAvards
of a hundred guns, many of thera new and of heaAw
calibre. Its garrison Avas weak for the capacity of
the Avork and the Aveight of its armament; it Avas
counted in round numbers at one thousand men.
On the morning of the 9th of March, General Scott
landed Worth's Division on the Gulf shore three miles
south of the city, by the boats of the navy, pulled
by the seamen of the fleet. No enemy opposed the
landing, and before the ensuing morning Scott's Avhole
army of about ten thousand men Avas on shore. The

254 31EM0IRS OF A
investment commenced from the landing of the first
troops, and was completed by noon of the 12th,
making a line of .six miles, stretching from Punta
Hornos on the south to Vergara on the north.
The trenches were opened and batteries planted,
including one manned exclusively by officers and
seamen of the fleet, Avhen, on the 22d, General Scott,
having fruitlessly demanded the surrender of the city,
gave the orders to commence firing.
For four days and nights shot and shell Avere
poured into the city, and the fire rapidly returned
by the guns of the city and castle. The suffering
and loss of life in the city Avere great, and each hour
that passed added strength and eff'ect to the fire of
the besieging force. On the night of the 25th, the
foreign consuls in the city sent a flag to General Scott,
asking permission for the foreigners and Mexican
woraen and children to leave the city. Scott replied
that as they had had full knoAvledge of the proposed
investment, and had been furnished with.safe<2;uards
Avhich they had failed to take advantage of, they must
noAv stand the consequences.
On the morning of the 26th, General Landero, who
had succeeded Morales in chief comraand, sent pro
posals to General Scott, Avhich were entertained.
These led to a convention, by which Vera Cruz and
the castle with all their guns and ordnance stores
were unconditionally surrendered to the United States.
On the 29th of March the garrisons of both raarched
out with the honors of Avar, saluted their flag, and
then laid doAvn their arms as prisoners of war, not to
serve again unless regularly exchanged.

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 255
As a military achievement, this Avill rank as one
of the raost brilliant on record, for it was the result
of calculation and corabination, entirely the work of
the coramander-in-chief From the nurnber of raen
requisite, to the nuraber of intrenching tools, the co
operation of the nav}', and the structure of the surf-
boats, the nuraber and size of guns and raortars, the
quantity and character of ordnance stores, all had
been prearranged, all Avere aptly chosen, all system
atically used, and all Avorked as planned.
The casualties on the side of the Americans did
not exceed one hundred men, Avliile that of the Mexi
cans, soldiers and civilians, Avas fully one thousand ;
the best port in the Gulf of Mexico Avas in our hands,
and a .-sure base established for the conquest ol Mexico.
The convention was agreed on by the commissioners
on the night of the 28th, and approved by General
Scott, Commodore Perry (who had succeeded Com-
raodore Connor in command of the Gulf Squadron),
and General Landero. The terms Avere, the surren
der of the castle of San Juan d'Ulloa and the city
of Vera Cruz, Avith all their guns and raunitions of
Avar ; the troops to march out with the honors of Avar,
and to surrender their arms, and the ofiicers Avere to
giA'e their paroles for theraselves and their men not
to serve during the war until regularly exchanged.
I give in full the three last articles :
" 6. The sick and wounded Mexicans to be allowed to remain
in the city, witb such medical officers and attendants and officers
of the array as may be necessary to their care and treatraent.
" t. Absolute protection is solemnly guaranteed to persons in
the city and to property, and it is clearly understood that no

256 3IEM0IRS OF A
private building or property is to be taken or used by the forces
of the Uuited States, without previous arrangeraent with the
owners, and for a fair equivalent.
"8. Absolute freedora of religious worship and cereraonies is
solemnly guaranteed."
The 1st and 4th articles Avere as follows :
" 1. The whole garrison or garrisons to be surrendered to the
arms of the United States, as prisoners of war, the 29th instant,
at 10 o'clock A.Ai, ; tbe garrison to be permitted to march out
with all the honors of war, and to lay down their arms to such
ofiicers as raay be appointed by the General-in-Chief of the United
States arraies, and at a [joint to be agreed upon by the comrais-
sioners.'' "4. The rank and file of the regular portion of the prisoners
to be disposed of after surrender and parole, as tbeir General-in-
Chief mav desire, and the irregular to be permitted to return to
their homes. The officers, in respect to all arms and description
of force, uiving tbe usual parole that tbe said rank and file, as
well as themselves, sball not serve again uutil duly exchanged."
Incidental to the fall of Vera Cruz Avas the capture
of Alvarado, a town of some fifteen hundred inhabi
tants, distant tAvo days' march frora Vera Cruz. On
the day after the surrender, General Quitman Avitli
his brigade Avas ordered there, and on his arrival
found the place in the virtual occupancy of the
navy ; Commodore Perry had sent a vessel to Avatch
the mouth of the river upon which the toAvn is
situated, and Lieutenant Hunter, its commander, had
landed some sailors and taken possession before the
arrival of General Quitraan.
On the 5th of April General Scott Avrote a very
lengthy communication to the War Department, from
which I raake a fcAv extracts :

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 257
"I am now organizing a movement of three or four brigades
upon Jalapa 
" In the meantime, the city and camps remain free from signs
of malignant fever, and we raay hope will continue healthy for
weeks longer  Being by default of others
thrown upon this coast six weeks too late in respect to the
vomito, I have been raade to feel the deepest solicitude for the
safety of the array. Tampico is not less unhealthy than Vera
Cruz, and Tuspan is considered the worst of the three places.
Our depots must of necessity be at this place
(Vera Cruz). The harbor is tbe best on the coast, and hence
to tbe capital is the best road in the country."
Leaving General Scott here, preparing to raarch
into the interior, we Avill return to General Taylor
and the army under his coraraand.
And first, we raust place Brigadier-General John
E. Wool, Avhich Ave can noAV do, and shoAv how Avon
derfully he had turned up at the right time and in the
right place, to render Avith his Division highly import
ant and valuable service. At the outset of the war,
an expedition had been organized by the government,
in Texas, to march overland into the State of Chi
huahua, the most northern of the Mexican republic,
and seize the city of Chihuahua. The coluran naraed
" Central Division, Array of Mexico," raarched from
San Antonio the latter part of September, and got as
far as Monclova, in the State of Cohahuila, about the
1st of November, 1846. It Avas here that General
Wool, in command of this Division, Avas enabled to
learn that General Taylor had captured and was in
possession of Monterey, the capital of the adjoining
State of New Leon, and he determined to abandon
his march after Chihuahua, and endeavor to form a
17

258 31 E 310 IRS OF A
junction with Taylor. He established himself at
Parras, in the same State of Cohahuila, and when
Worth Avas alarmed, whilst Taylor was on the march
to Victoria, General Wool had by a rapid march rein
forced Worth at Saltillo, and Avas now near that place
in camp, on a ranch named Buena Vista, Avhich had
been selected by General Wool and his engineer
officer. Captain George W. Hughes, of the Topo
graphical Engineers, with especial reference to its
suitableness for advantageous defense; a pass two
miles in advance of this camp Avas the key to the
position, and it Avas here that Avas fought the battle
which gave eclat to the name of the ranch, and im
perishable renoAvn to American arms.
General T.aylor returned to Monterey about the
1st of February, 1847, after having been superseded
by General Scott, Avhilst at Victoria en route to Tam
pico, with the feeble (in point of numbers) escort of
tAVO companies of dragoons, tAVO batteries, ancl one
regiraent of rifles. His arrival was greeted Avith the
sad news of the capture of several parties of Araeri
cans, a general advance of Santa Anna with an over-
Avhelraing force, and a good deal of deraoralization
araong the troops outside of Wool's Division, and not
including the body-guard he had brought Avith hira.
His heart must have been very heavy ; he had
been shamefully outraged, all his tried troops with
the exception of a handful taken from hirn, and now
the life of every Araerican in the valley of the Rio
Grande, the honor of our arras, the success of the Avar,
his OAvn laurels, Avere in jeopardy, and in his single
keeping.

3IARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 259
He had said that he Avould do his duty to his
country, though he might be crushed in the effort;
and he was about to illustrate that he shrank from
no responsibilities Avhich the duties of his office
demanded. Moving rapidly forward frora Monterey, he Avas at
Agua Nueva, sixty miles from Monterey, and eiiihteen
miles south of Saltillo."' On the 5th of Februarv, not
liking this position, he fell back to the pass in front
of Buena Vista, Avhich had been observed by Wool
and Hughes, and this ground meeting Avith his ap
proval, he prepared to resist here the coming of Santa
Anna and his army.
On the 8th Taylor had his Avhole army, including
Wool's Division, concentrated here ; it Avas composed
of tAA^o corapanies of the First Dragoons, under Cap
tain Enoch Steen ; tAVO companies of the Second Dra
goons, under Lieutenant-Colonel Charles A. May ;
Bragg's, Sherman's and Washington's Batteries of the
re,gular army; one regiraent of Arkansas Cavalry,,
under Colonel Archibald Yell ; one regiment of Ken
tucky Cavalry, under Colonel Humphrey Marshall;
Second Kentucky Infantry, under Colonel Williara R.
McKee ; First Regiment Mississippi Rifles, under
Colonel Jefferson Davis ; Second Indiana Infantry,
* The town of Saltillo was defended by a field work in which
our old friends of Monterey, two twenty-four-pound howitzers,
and Captain Webster's and Lieutenant James L. Donaldson's
company of regular artillery, were posted to guard the approaches,
whilst sorae infantry were within the city.
The train was under the care of two corapanies of infantry,
with Captain Wm. H. Shover's field pieces, U. S. Army.

260 31 E MO IRS OF A
under Colonel BoAvles ; Third Indiana Infantry,
under Colonel James H. Lane ; First Illinois Infantry,
under Colonel John J. Hardin ; Second Illinois In
fantry, under Colonel William H. Bissel ; two com
panies of Texas Volunteers, under Captains McCul-
lough and Conner; making his whole force three
hundred and thirty-four officers and four thousand
four hundred and twenty-five men.
The army of Santa Anna, according to Mexican
accounts, Avas composed and numbered as folloAvs :
sappers and artillerists, Avith nineteen guns and one
hoAvitzer, six hundred and fifty men ; First, Third,
Fourth, Fifth, Tenth, and Eleventh Regiments of the
line, First and Third Light Troops, six thousand tAvo
hundred and forty men ; Fourth Light Troops, raixed,
of Santa Anna ; First Active, of Calayo, of Guadal-
axara, of Lagos, of Queretaro, and of Mexico, three
thousand two hundred men ; General Parrodi's com
mand from Tula, one thousand men ; artillery, tAvo
hundred and fifty men ; Mejia's Division, four thou
sand men ; with the cavalry of Minon, estimated at
tAVO thousand men. General Santa Anna advanced
from San Luis Potosi with about twenty thousand
men of all arms, on the 29th day of January, the very
day that our division marched into Tampico. He was
going north Avith the elite of the Mexican army, while
Ave Avere going south aAvay from the great shock of
battle. Certainly military annals may be searched
in vain for a parallel campaign. The reader must
look at a good map, to intelligently comprehend the
situation and the movements of the arraies in Mexico
in this raonth of February, 1847.

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 261
On the 18th, Santa Anna reached the hacienda of
Encarnacion, distant sixty miles south of Saltillo; on
the 19th, his array Avas concentrated and he made
his arrangements for battle ; advancing on the 20th,
he reached Encantada on the 22d, and immediately
sent a flag by his Surgeon-General Lindenberger to
Taylor's headquarters, Avith a summons, of Avhich the
following is a copy, translated :
" You are surrounded by twenty thousand men, and cannot
in any human probability avoid suffering a rout and being cut to
pieces by our troops; but as you deserve consideration and par
ticular esteem, I wish to save you a catastrophe, and for tbat
purpose give you this notice, in order tbat you raay surrender at
discretion, under the assurance tbat you will be treated with the
consideration belonging to the Mexican character ; to which end
you will be granted an hour's time to make up your mind, to
comraence from tbe moment my flag of truce arrives in your
camp. " Witb this view, I assure you of my particular consideration.
¦ God and Liberty !
"(Signed) " Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna.
" Ca.mp at Bn-cant.\.da. February 22, 1847.
-¦To General Z. Taylor, Commandins; Fnrces of the IT. S."
To this was sent the reply :
" Headquarters, Army of Occupation,
NEAR Buena A'i-ta, Februarv 22. 1847.
"Sir, — In reply to your note of tbis date, summoning me to
surrender my forces at discretion, I beg leave to say tbat I
decline acceding to your request.
•¦ With high respect, I ara, sir, " Y'our obedient servant,
" (Signed) " Z. Taylor,
" iLnjor-Geiieral U. S. A. Commanding.
" Seiior General D. Antonio Lopez de Santa .Inna,
"Commander-in-Chief, La Encantada."

262 31 E MO IRS OF A
General Taylor, aAvare of Santa Anna's approach,
had marched out of camp on the morning of the 21st,
and had taken up his previously selected position for
battle ; it began immediately after the return of the
flag AA'ith Taylor's answer, by an attempt to turn our
left, but the decisive battle was not fought until the
next day, the 23d February.
Ou this day the battle raged from right to left, Avith
A'firying success, for eight hours. Again and again
our line Avas broken, overwhelmed by the masses of
the enemy. Repeatedly in rear of our broken yet
unconquered troops, the Mexicans Avere again and
again compelled to retire. While one portion of the
field Avas apparently lost, another was tenaciously
held by American valor. Cavalry charges alternated
Avith the advance and repulse of infantry columns,
and artillery hurled its missiles at pistol-shot range.
Two hundred and sixty-seA'en of our dead Avere lying
scattered among five hundred of the enemy, Avhile
the groans of four hundred and fifty-six Araericans
Avere mingled Avith those of fifteen hundred Mexicans.
Among our killed Avere Colonels Hardin, McKee, and
Yell; Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Clay, Jr., a son of Hon
orable Henry Cl. ay of Kentucky ; Captain George Lin
coln, of Massachusetts, Assistant Adjutant-General
U. S. Army ; Captain WoodAvard, of Second Illinois ;
Captains Kinder and Walker, of Second Indiana ; Cap
tain Taggart, of Third Indiana; Captain Willis, of
Second Kentucky; Captain Porter, of the Arkan.-^as
Cavalry; Lieutenants Moore and McNulty, of the
Missis,sippi Rifles ; Lieutenant Houghton, of First
Illinois; Lieutenants Campbell and Leonard, of the

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 26-3
Texas Volunteers ; and Lieutenants Roundtree, Flet
cher, Ferguson, Robbins, Steele, Kelly, Bartleson,
Atherton, and Price, of the Second Illinois. Of the
little army of Araericans, tAventy-eight of its officers
Avere killed and forty-one Avounded, Avhile tAvo hundred
and eighty-nine dead, and four hundred and fifteen
wounded of the brave rank and file attested the ten
acity and unflinching courage of the United States
troops. General Taylor, in his official report of this
battle, dated the 6th of March, 1847, after referring
to the general good conduct of his army and its bril
liant success, thus speaks of his Batteries : •' The ser
vices of the light artillery, ahvays conspicuous, Avere
more than usually distinguished. MoAdng rapidly
OA^er the roughest ground, it Avas ahvays in action at
the right place and the right time, and its AA^ell-
directed fire dealt destruction in the masses of the
enemy." With such officers as Washington, Sherman,
Brtigg, Thomas, Kilburn, O'Brien, Reynolds, Bryan,
and Whiting, the artillery arm of the serA'ice re
flected an undying lustre on the Military Acaderay at
West Point, and proudly displayed the standard of
its training, before the adrairing gaze of the Araerican
people. I have read various reports of this great battle, in
Avhich five thousand American volunteers (only the
dragoons and artillerists Avere regulars) successfully
fought against four times their nuraber ; and I have
conversed with officers and men of both armies Avho
were in that battle, and my opinion is this, that the
A'ictory Avas due to the facts, that our right Avas inac
cessible by reason of the deep gullies Avhicli ran

264- ME 310 IRS OF A
athwart the plain ; that our volunteers used their fire
arms with telling and fatal accuracy ; that our light
artillery Avas served with such fearful rapidity that
the Mexican infantry could not bear up against its
fire ; that Santa Anna thrcAV his columns against our
light batteries, Avhen he had heavier guns and of longer
range Avithout using them; that in broad daylight
Santa Anna or Lorabardini, his infantry coramander,
hurled his brave footmen by column in mass against
artillery, which Avas capable of and was in fact being
manoeuvred as rapidly as infantry, precisely as if he
Avere sending them against guns in fixed positions ; and
finally and chiefly was the victory due to the coolness
and sagacity and personal courage of General Zachary
Taylor. It is notable of this battle that all Avho Avere
in it bear Avitness to the great courage displayed
by both armies; it was a very sanguinary battle, and
deeds of personal daring so numerous that they Avere
not conspicuous. Its results were of untold iraport
ance, and are incalculable, except to those Avho knoAv
that from the Rio Grande to the base of the Sierra
Madre mountains, from Tampico to Saltillo, the cav
alry of MiSon and Urrea held undisputed sway, and that
the enraged rancheros of the States of Ncav Leon,
Cohahuila, and Tamaulipas, would have sprung from
the earth upon every North American, so luckless as
to have been in the area described, had General
Taylor been less the soldier, and less the man he
was, at Buena Vista on the 22d and 23d days of
February, 1847.
On the night of the 23d, the army of Santa Anna,
shattered and disorganized, retreated toAvard San Luis,

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 265
leaving the road as far as Encarnacion strewed with
the dead, the dying, and debris of a routed array.
Scott was free to act from a new base ; the laurels
of Taylor imperishable ; the campaign of the Rio
Grande Avas ended.

CHAPTER XXIIL
TAIIPICO — VISIT TO VERA CRUZ.
I HAD the honor to fire salutes at Tampico for the
A'ictories of Buena Vista and Vera Cruz, and Ave Avere
now comparatively at rest; but I had been over-
Avorked, and a chronic disease contracted on the
Rio Grande had becorae so aggravated, that I was
forced into the railitary hospital. Here, at the cool
est place in the building, the therraometer stood at
102 degrees, Fahrenheit, for several successive days,
and the heat Avas so smothering and enfeebling that
the surgeon in charge adAnsed ray leaving for the
United States. I determined not to leave befiire my
company's term of service had expired, and thinking
that a trip to Vera Cruz Avould be beneficial, I readily
obtained permission to go. On Saturday, the 10th of
April, I Avent on board the government steamer New
Orleans ; tAvo corapanies of the First Infimtry, and
two hundred and eighty raules, also destined for Vera
Cruz, being erabarked, we weighed anchor, and, after
one or tAA^o bumps on the bar at the mouth of the
Panuco, Avere rolling in a heavy sea on the Gulf of

266 31EM0IRS OF A
Mexico. On Monday we cast anchor betAveen the
castle and the city, and I Avent ashore for a stroll
through the city. On the ensuing day I wrote the
following letter : " Castle or San Jqan de Ulloa,
Vera Cruz, April 13, 1847.
" ;My de.ar P.arents, — I e.xpected to find on arriving here
that all my friends would have been away, but how agreeably I
have been disappointed! My old brigade coramander, Colonel
Henry Wilson, of the First Infantry, is tbe Governor of Tera
Cruz, and niy friend Major Bacchus is stationed at and in cora-
mand of this castle ; in fact, it so happens tbat the First Infantry,
with wbom we were so long a time brigaded, ancl which we
.served witb at Monterey, constitutes the garrison, and I am
surrounded with acquaintances and comrades. They have all
been \'i'ry kind, and have offered tbeir quarters as a home during
my ^tay, and I am now the guest of Major Bacchus.
" On approaching this castle from the sea, I was disappointed,
it being so much smaller in appearance than I anticipated ; but
now I realize its iramense strength and its power to resist, if
well defended, tbe navies of the world.
" I bave just returned from an exploration of its interior laby
rinths, whicb remind rae of ray visit to, and recall tbe wonders of,
ibe Mammoth Cave, Kentucky; through vaults, dungeons, case
mates, passages, and covered ways, deep down beneath the terre-
plein of tbe fort; across ditches, moats, bridges, under portcullis
and over drawbridges; every side bristling with artillery. I
wandered with my guide until I gave up, unable to visit much
tbat was yet to be seen of its mysteries.
" Evei'vthing that raan as a soldier would require is to be
found within these walls, from the chapel for worship to the
duii.ii'eon for punishment, frora tbe foundry to tbe smith's shop,
from the arsenal to tbe marine rope-walk, from the handsomely
fitted-up apartments for the priests and officers to tbe raore
humble barracks of tiie soldiers, from the twent\'-four-inch shell
to the canisters of gra|ie, from the beautiful bronze English guns
to the long copper guns of old Spain, from the handsome English

31 A RYLAND VOLUNTEER. 267
musket to the matchlock of the buccaneers: the labor of a hun
dred years to render this work impregnable, and the wealth of
the Indies to complete the design, have made this a wonderful
tower of huraan strength and skill.
" The quantity and variety of the raunitions of war now piled
and heaped up are, I should say, inexhaustible, and tbere are
enough guns, pistols, swords, iron and copper shot lying beneath
the water of tbe ditches, yet plainly visible, to arm at least a
regiraent of troops.
" Some of the bronze guns raounted en barbette on the upper
terrace of the works are magnificent ; tho precision and accuracy
of their fire you raay judge of, when I tell you that the Mexican
gunners put twenty-eight shot through tbe brick wall of the ceme-
ter\', over on the raain land, behind which they sup])osed onr
infantry were, (as we had a mortar-battery nest adjoining,) the
wall being five feet high and about one hundred and fifty feet in
length, and this at the distance of one and a half miles.
"Wben 1 looked at tbis perforated and shattered wall on yes
terday, and was told tbat it had been done by guns at the castle,
I felt a stron,!;- desire to see the guns tbat did sucb .^hooting;
here tbey were, made at Deptford, England, but a few vears ago ;
just lovely, they were so beautiful. I can't say whether thev
are twenty-four- or tbirty-two-pounders ; soraewhere about tbat
calibre, perhaps heavier.
"There are about one hundred and fifty pieces, of various
calibre, raounted now in this work, but it is capable of showing
twice as rauch artillery if needed; built of the coral rock upon
which its walls stand, it crumbles, but it is not shattered, by
projectiles fired against it. Seaward, its reefs project far into
the Gulf, while toward tbe city a heavy water-battery adds weight
to its upper .truns. It is truly a formidable fortress.
" On enterin:,'- the city, I was disappointed at not .seeing as
many bouses in ruins as I had supposed would be tbe case; but
as I continued ray stroll, I soon saw the dreadful destruction
which our shells occasioned, while solid shot from our Inilteries
had [lasseil entirely throuL;b tbe city, reaching in their flii;ht the
quay or imjle running into the sea, upon which the ali'rigbted
citizens bad fled for safety frora tbe bombs. As I [lassed along,

268 ME3I0IRS OF A
the poor women were cleaning up a house in which a thirteen-
inch shell, after falling through three stories, had exploded in
the cellar; among the plaster and bricks and stones were several
fragments of the shell, and I took a piece to preserve as a curi
osity and raeraorial ; the poor creatures looked at rae as if I
were, or raust be, a deraon to rejoice at their griefs, for I judged
frora their looks that they supposed I was glorying at seeing
the effect of our fire upon their homes. How much they were
mistaken the Good Father knows. Many of the houses were
completely demolished, and several bear the marks of fire occa
sioned by the explosion igniting the wood-work. I went into
one of the churches, now converted into a hospital, in which
there are upwards of five hundred patients ; it was a curious
sight thus to see the pallets of the sick placed in the chapels,
and the various ornaments of the church, sacred to raany eyes,
made use of as need required. On looking up at the vaulted
ceiling, behold there were several large holes through wbich the
sky was visible ; several thirteen-inch shells had dropped through
the roofing as if it had been paper, exploding within the body
of the church; all around, walls, paintings, and wood-work
showed tbe terrified force of their bursting ; the debris Avas still
lying over the floor or swept into piles to make room for beds.
It is owing to tbe effect that these shells produced in the city
that the castle was surrendered, for it was very little damaged;
it scarcely shows a scar, and I am told was but little injured by
the French in their bombardment a few years ago. Our victory,
in its present gain and future results, is very great indeed, and
I doubt whether ever as great a one was obtained with less loss
to tho victors. Scott deserves iramense praise.
"One of ray company, Benjamin F. Nimocks, is on detached
duty ill the Pay Department, and was here during the siege; he
carae after me yesterday, and giving rae a horse, guided me
round our lines of investment and showed me the position of
all our batteries and tbe eneray's line of works, fort by fort, so
that I think I am quite conversant with the military operations
which resulted in the fall of Yera Cruz. The cemetery, a beauti
ful burial-place, was an object of especial interest, for I never
expect to sec again a graveyard knocked to pieces — the chapel

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 269
Avas in ruins, monuments shattered, the graves of the dead torn
up, and the silent tenant of one coffin was noiu exposed to my
sight by a solid shot having unburied it. I saw this sight.
" Yera Cruz reminds me of Havre ia its commercial-looking
bouses and filthy streets ; it is much larger tban any Mexican
town yet visited. Its mole is magnificent, running far out into
the sea; here I have passed hours gazing at the throng, who
find the sea-breeze so grateful, at the castle, the large fleet of
vessels of war in the offing and the nurabers of small boats plying
between the shore and the vessels lying in tbe roads ; there are
one hundred and fifty transports lying here, besides our own, —
and English, French, and Spanish war-ships.
"Will we have peace? This I cannot answer, nor can any
one else. I am in possession of much curious and iraportant
information direct from the city of Mexico, but I do not feel at
libertv to comraunicate it, although I was not held to secrecy.
My informant is Mr. Moses Y. Beach, of the Xew York Sim,
who came down with me from Tampico. He is direct frora tbe
city of Mexico, and his conversation was highly interesting.
"An erainent and wealthy merchant, who bas been eighteen
years in tbe country, told me on yesterday that he could not tell
wbat would be the result, etc.
" I believe that my health is nearly restored, and that I am
now acclimated. I shall return to Tampico by the first steamer.
" Your affectionate son, John."
I copy from " Chambers's Encyclopisdia" its article
upon Vera Cruz :
" Yera Cruz, or Villa Rica de la Yera Cruz (the Rich City of
the Real Cross), an ancient city on the east coast of Mexico, about
one hundred and eighty-five miles* east of the city of Mexico,
with a population of about eight thousand, composed chiefly of
* Yera Cruz, by Mexican count, is ninety leagues frora the
city of Mexico, and I judged this to be correct, giving two and
a half railes to the league. I raade the distance two hundred
and thirty miles.

270 31EM0IRS OF A
a motley collection from many nations. The city is built in a
semicircle, facing the sea, and is regularly laid out; the streets,
which are wider than is usual in tropical countries, running east
and west from the harbor, with others crossing them at right
angles. The town is well defended by a strong wall* and other
substantial works, as also by the castle of San Juan de Ulloa,
which stands upon an island of the same name about half a raile
from the shore. The principal buildings are tbe cathedral and
fifteen olher churches, generally built iu the Moorish style, only
six of which are in use; several raonasteries, the court-house
and prison, which stand on one side of the great square in the
centre of the city. Tbe bouses and public buildings are gen
erally built of rubble masonry, formed of small stones, inter
spersed witb red tiles, tbe whole being afterwards covered with
good durable plaster, and colored with a variety of tints; and
as most of the houses are in the old Spanish style, with open
arcades, balconies, galleries, etc., the city presents a very pic
turesque aspect. There are a few good hospitals. The drainage
of the city flows down open channels in the centre of tbe streets,
which are almost on a level with the sea. This combined with
tbe wretched water which the inhabitants are compelled to use,
tbe marshy and utterly barren nature of the surrounding coun
try, and tbe pestilential nature of the climate, generally easily
accounts for tbe frightful ravages of yellow and other fevers.
Yellow fever is most prevalent from May to Xovember. Al
though it is the chief port for all Mexico, Yera Cruz has no
harbor, but only an open roadstead between the town and the
castle. The anchorage is exceedingly bad, and when the north
gales, the nortes (terrible hurricanes bearing along with them
clouds of sand from the sand-bills behind the town), prevail,
many vessels are wrecked on the adjacent shores.
"The chief exports are the precious metals, cochineal, sugar,
flour, indigo, provisions, sarsaparilla, leather, vanilla, jalap, soap,
* It was much better defended by the prickly pear, which
grew outside in an impenetrable jungle, than by the walls. In
fantry could not, or would not, have forced their way through
in some places at the tirae I examined the defenses.

31A RYLAND VOLUNTEER. 271
logwood, and pimento; and the imports cotton goods, woolen,
linen, and silk goods, brandy, iron, steel, wax, quicksilver, paper,
hardware, and cutlery, earthenware, etc. The imports in 1856
were about £3,'i00,000, and tbe exports about £1,803,100, the
latter consisting principally of the precious metals."
On the afternoon of the day of ray arrival, the 12th
of April, I saw General Scott, with his staff" and head
quarters, leave Vera Cruz for his raarch on the city of
Mexico,* and on the CA^ening of the 15th I re-embarked
on the stearaer NeAv Orleans to return to ray post.
On the A'oyage Ave Avere overtaken by a norther.
which exceeded in A'iolence and poAver all that I had
ever knoAvn or imagined the Avind to have. Our
stearaer Avas put head-on to the gale, the full force
of her steam used, and yet she Avas driven, stern fore
most, before the storm. Fortunately Ave Avere enabled
to get under the lee of Lobos, Avhere the steamers
anchors held her s^ecurely until 2 o'clock p.m. the
ensuing day, when Ave proceeded on our course, and
reached my quarters at Tampico on the evening of
the 17th.
* He entered the city of Me.xico at tbe head of his arra_v, Sep
tember 14th, after his victories in tbe vallev.

272 3IE310IRS OF A

CHAPTER XXIV.
TA-AIPICO  DISCHARGE FROM THE SERVICE, ETC.
As the end of our term of service approached,
various efforts were being made to induce the officers
and" men to re-enter for the war. My friends had
written to me to come home, that a regiraent for the
Avar Avould be accepted from the District of Columbia
and Maryland, and that Governor Thoraas G. Pratt,
of Maryland, would have the appointment of its
Major, as soon as a battalion, then organizing in Bal
timore, Avas ready for the field, and that he had said
I should have the Majority. This determined my
action, otherwise I might have united with Captain
Jaraes Boyd, of our battalion, who was receiving the
naraes of volunteers for a corapany to be raised at
Tampico frora our oAvn and other sources.
Our battalion continued on duty until the 30th
day of May, 1847, at Tampico, when and where Ave
Avere mustered out and honorably discharged frora
the service by Major Williara W. Morris, of the
United States Army, under orders of Colonel William
Gates, commanding United States forces at Tampico.
Thus, after twelve months of honorable service, the
Battalion of Baltimore and Washington Volunteers
completed, Avith fidelity, its obligations to the govern
ment and prepared to return to the United States.
On the 31st day of May I received my pay and

31 A RYLAND VOLUNTEER. 273
alloAvance for mileage from Major J. Y. Dashiell, pay
master United States Army. The distance from
Tampico to Washington was computed by the Pay
Department at eighteen hundred miles, and upon
this estiraate the calculation Avas raade for the pay
of the men.
They were generally satisfied to be discharged
here, although some insisted that the governraent
Avas bound to carry them back to the United States.
I thought so ; but the necessity of the case perhaps
justified the retention of their services until the last
hour of the term of enlistment.
On this night I gave a supper to my own company
at the Italian Fonda. Our association had been
pleasant, and our parting Avas painful. So long as
life lasts Avill the recollection of their fidelity and
attachment to rae be a bright spot for memory to
dAvell upon. With every man in the company I
parted in friendship and good-Avill.
I had to remain Avhen they left. One of them,
Henry P. Norris, of Baltimore, had, on the night of
the 30th, unfortunately killed a man employed in
the quartermaster's department. I could not leave
him ; Major Buchanan in the kindest manner volun
teered to assist in his defense, and Ave defended him
before a court and jury organized under general orders
from the headquarters of the army. He was found
guilty of murder in the second degree, and sentenced
to be imprisoned in the prison of Tampico at hard
labor during the war.
I was very sick at the time of the trial, suff'ering
from a high fever and a return of my old complaint ;
18

274 31E310IRS OF A
but, after the verdict was rendered, I fortified myself
with such recommendations and evidence as induced
the President of the United States, James K. Polk,
promptly to order his unconditional release, when I
laid the case before hira on my return.
I am satisfied that Norris Avould not have been
convicted if his Avitnesses had remained ; but it was
uncertain Avhen his trial would take place, and they,
not dreaming that he Avould be convicted, left Avithin
a feAV days after their discharge, for it Avas groAving
A'ery sickly.
Captain James Boyd and Lieutenant James Taney
hill remained at Tampico, and accompanied me on
the 12th of June on board the schooner Elvira, bound
for Mobile, she being the only vessel then up for the
United States. Bidding them ati affectionate and
final farewell,* I sailed from Mexico homcAvard. I
suffered a good deal during the voyage from my dis
ease and Avant of attention, for the little vessel in
Avhich I Avas sailing had no accommodations for
passengers ; the rain-squalls were frequent, and the
cabin occupied by the master and I was small and far
from dry. Still, I Avas homeward bound, and the
light at the Balize revived and strengthened me. On
the 18th I landed, at sundoAvn, at Mobile, and on the
27th of June, 1847, reached home, after an absence of
tAvelve months and twenty-three days.
I conclude this record of a year's service in the
army of the United States with the general orders
* They were both killed in an engagement with the enemy at
the river Calabozo, not far from Tampico, within less than a
month after we parted.

31A RYLAND VOLUNTEER. 275
issued by Colonel Williara Gates, Third Artillery,
United States Array, coraraanding the Departraent of
Tarapico, dated at Tarapico, Mexico, May 30th, 1847,
Avhich honorably discharged rae from the service,
and a letter from Brevet-Major Robert C. Buchanan,
Fourth InfantrA', United States Army, lately com
manding the Baltimore Battalion, dated at Tampico,
May 31st, 1847, to the Hon. Jacob G. Davies, Mayor
of Baltiraore, concerning the presentation of the Bat
talion flag to the corporation of the city of Baltiraore.
'• Headquarters Department of Tampico.
Tampico, Mexico, Mav 30, 1817.
•¦Orders No. 23.]
" It has been the earnest wish of the Colonel commanding that
orders from the general headquarters of the army should have
Ijeen received directing him when and wbere tbe Battalion of
Baltimore and District of Columbia Yolunteers should be hon
orably mustered out of service, but circumstances not within bis
control have obliged Lim to detain it at Tampico until the last
day of its term of service.
"He cannot here refrain from expressing the satisfaction he
has experienced in beholding this brave body at its post, where
it is so much regarded, and where he would gladly retain it
during the war. Nevertheless, as that period has arrived when
the expiration of tbe relations so long amicably existing between
tbat corps and their coramander must cease, he here proclaims
it Honorably Dischakged this day.
" His Excellency the President of the United States foresee
ing these results, and desiring the continuance of the services of
volunteers requisite for the prosecution of the plans in the event
of tbe prolongation of hostilities with the enemy, the Colonel
commanding would testify his desire tbat these well-drilled, ex
perienced, and gallant corapanies would again promptly present
themselves for enrollment, under the respective officers, deter
mined to abide tbe issue of their country's struggle, whatever it

276 3IE310IRS OF A
may be, secure in their acknowledged prowess and capacity in
asserting her rights.
" Major Buchanan, whose well-tried fidelity and judicious
performance of service have won the entire confidence of your
coramander, who seizes this opportunity to make known his
thanks, has been officially authorized to make terras with the
officers and raen of this battalion frora the city of heroic monu
ments and patriotic associations, by whicb, if any of you think
proper to re-enroll j'ourselves, leave of absence for sixty days
will be given, and on your return to Mexico, the twelve dollars
bounty paid ; and highly pleased will tbe commandant be if even
one company will raise tbeir standard on the parade for this
purpose ; but if not, and he is left to see you pass away, he
offers you his cordial good wishes that you may bave a speedy
passage, and find your farailies, relatives, and friends, ready and
proud to greet you as your honorable services justly entitle you,
"(Signed) " AVm. G.vtes,
" Colonel Third Artillery Commanding."
Letter from Major Buchanan to the Mayor of
Baltimore. " Tampico, Jtiiv ol, 1S47.
" Dear Sir, — The terra of service of the Baltiraore Battalion
having expired, it becomes necessary to make a suitable disposi
tion of the flag under whose folds it so gallantlv fought and so
faithfully sustained the toils and privations incident to tbe last
twelve months' campaign.
" The officers of the Battalion desire that it shonld be pre
sented to the corporation of the city, to be kept in tbe City Hall
as a raeraorial of their regard for Baltimore. In this arrange
ment I most heartily concur.
" It therefore becomes my agreeable duty to forward the flag
to you, the Chief-Magistrate of the city, with tbe request tbat
it raay be disposed of in accordance with the wishes of the
donors. "By our fellow-citizens it raay well be regarded with feelinu's
of pride, as having been tbe standard of a body of their friends
which, for good discipline, soldierly deportment, and efficiency for
hard service, stood in a most enviable position. The Rio Grande,

3IA RYLAND VOLUNTEER. 277
Monterey, Victoria, and Tarapico will all bear witness to the
services of the Battalion,
" Sergeant-Major William T. Lennox, who carried the flag in
the battle of Monterey, after Hart was wounded, and who has
been the color-bearer since that time, will be intrusted with the
duty of delivering it to you. " I am, sir, with much respect,
" (Sifrned) "Robert C. Bdchasan-,
" Brevet-Major Pourth Infantry, commanding Battalion.
" To Hon. Jacob G. Davies,
¦ Mavor of Baltimore. Alarvland."

CHAPTER XXV.
THE DISTRICT OF COLUAIBIA AND MARYLAND REGIMENT ;
ITS ORGANIZATION, DEPARTURE FOR THE SEAT OF WAR,
AND ARRIVAL AT VERA CRUZ.
By an understanding between the War Department
and the Governor of Maryland, a battalion (and in
certain contingencies a regiraent) of volunteers, to be
enlisted for the Avar Avith Mexico, Avas to be raised in
the District of Colurabia and the State of Maryland,
of Avhich the President was to appoint the Lieutenant-
Colonel, and the Governor of Maryland the Major.
Shortly after ray arrival at horae, I was unofficially
informed by His Excellency, Thomas G. Pratt, that
I should be appointed the Major of the battalion as
soon as the three companies then being recruited at
Baltimore should be accepted by the government.
Recruiting had been going on A'ery sloAvly, and
there Avas some difficultv betAveen the several officers

278 ME310IRS OF A
as to the command of the companies that were being
organized. I lent my assistance to recruiting and
reconciling differences, so that by the 20th of July a
sufficient nuraber of corapanies were accepted from
the District and Maryland to authorize my appoint
ment; on that day I was corami.ssioned Major of the
District of Colurabia and Maryland Regiment of Vol
unteers by the Governor of Maryland, and entered on
my duties at once.
At the time these companies of infantry Avere
accepted, several gentlemen Avere engaged in raising
volunteers for a company of artillery, to be attached
to the battalion, it beins understood that such Avould
be accepted by the government. After rauch discus
sion, an araicable arrangement was made by Avhich
the artillery company Avas to be commanded by Cap
tain Lloyd Tilghman, of Maryland, the other gentle
men from Baltiraore yielding their claims in his favor.
There was rauch difficulty in the District of Colum
bia between Brevet-Major George W. Hughes, of the
United States Array, and Charles Lee Jones, Esq., as
to the comraand of the -battalion about being jointly
raised in the District and in Maryland ; each gentle
man claiming a right, based either upon personal ser-
A'ices or a promise from the War Department to be
appointed its comraanding officer. Finally, Major
Hughes Avas commissioned Lieutenant-Colonel of the
District of Columbia and Maryland Regiment of Vol
unteers by the President of the United States, and
immediately assumed command.
The Maryland companies Avere quartered at Fort
McHenry; upon the receipt of my commission I took

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 279
command of this detachment, and upon the 23d
received the folloAving order (the other three com
panies from the District having arriA^ed at the fort) :
" Headquarters Battalion of D. C. and M'd Vol's..
"July 23, 18i7.
"Orders No. .]
" I. The three corapanies heretofore indicated to sail on board
the transport ship Alexandria will be in readiness to leave Fort
McHenry to-raorrow raorning the 24th instant.
"II. The carap and garrison equipage, arm-chests, personal
baggage, etc., will be deposited on the wharf at 9 o'clock a.m.
bv companies, in the following order, viz.: Captain Barry's, Cap
tain Henrie's, and Captain Brown's; and the company property
will be placed on board by the men of the corapany to which it
belongs, quietly and orderly.
" III. Major Kenly, who takes command of the detachment,
will assign the raen to berths by corapanies.
" lY The officers will select their berths according to rank.
" Y. Dr. Campbell, of -the Yoltiu-eurs, accompanies tbe detach
ment as medical officer, under orders from tbe War Departraent.
" By order, " George AV. Hughes,
¦¦Lieutenant-Colonel, etc."
In obedience to the above orders I superintended
the embarkation from Fort McHenry of the three
companies designated, and put them on board the
transport ship Alexandria on the 24th day of Julv,
1847. The detachment consisted of eleven officers
and one hundred and ninety-eight enlisted men, Avith
some half-dozen servants. With the experience I had
encountered, I hesitated going to sea on a voyage to
the tropics, in the raonths of July and August, Avith
troops on a transport ship, unless I Avas assured of the
attendance of a raedical officer and a full supply of

280 3IE310IRS OF A
water; to write plainly, I refused to go until a medi
cal officer was with the detachment; and then having
made a personal examination as to the quantity of
water on board, and being supplied by the quarter
master with a barrel of chloride of lirae as a disin
fectant, I announced rayself as ready to sail. There
Avas a great deal of prelirainary work to do, looking to
the casualties of a month's voyage, and I attended to
it in person to see that it was done ; and it teas done.
My instructions Avere to go to Vera Cruz; being
ready, as far as my judgment Avent, on the 26tli, the
stearaer Relief, Captain Sprigg, made fast to the
Alexandria, and toAved us as far as Poplar Island,
Aviiere, casting us off, Ave made sail doAvn the bay.
Previous to leaving, the folloAving Avas placed in my
hands : " Baltimore, 23d July, 18-17.
" Sir, — Enclosed herewith is a charter-party for the ship
Alexandria, under cover to the quartermaster at Yera Cruz,
wbich I request you will seal and hand to him, after having
placed the requisite certificate upon it, — the sarae as on tbat in
the hands of the captain of the ship.
" Yery respectfully, your obedient servant,
" (Signed) S. B. Dusenbkry, " Quartermaster.
¦' Commanding officer troops on board transport ship
Alexandria, off Fort McHenry, ild."
From the tenor of the charter-part}^ I learned that
the captain of the ship could not obtain his freight
money unle.'^s my certificate Avas given, and I felt
much greater security for my detachment Avhen aAvare
of this condition t6 the charter. No security hoAV-
ever Avas needed as far as seamanship could go, for a
better sailor never trod a ship's deck than Captain

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 281
Orderaan, of Baltiraore, Avith Avhom from first to last
my relations Avere harmonious and agreeable, although
he Avas fretted because 1 Avould not consent to sail on
the 24th.
The other detachraent, consisting of Captains
Degge's, Dolan's and Taylor's corapanies, Avere era
barked on board the ship Napier ; to this detachment
was assigned the surgeon of the regiraent. Dr. Sted-
raan R. Tilghman, of Maryland, and the ship sailed
for the same destination a day or two after the Alex
andria. We left the capes on the 27th, having had a favor
able Avind down the bay ; soon the roughness of the
sea Avas folloAved by its usual consequences, and I had
a very sick detachment of troops ; they Avere A'ery
sick. Notwithstanding this, I mounted a regular
guard daily, held the officer of the day responsible
for the discipline on board, and established a school
of instruction for the officers. The raedical officer
Avith the detachraent. Dr. A. B. Carapbell, of the Vol-
tigeurs, Avas efficient, and made daily reports of the
condition betAveen decks (where the men Avere quar
tered), and the general lu^alth of the command. We
Avere not too much croAvded, the bunks kept scrupu
lously clean, decks scraped every morning before
guard-mount, and as soon as the men were able to
stand, .¦<([uad drills in the manual of arms Avere begun
and continued until our arrival at Vera Cruz.
On the 9th of August Ave made the Caycos Islands,
and on the ne.xt day Avere becalmed betAveen Cuba
and San Domingo, both islands in sight, Cape Nicola
Mole tAvelve miles to the eastAvard.

282 MEMOIRS OF A
It was noAv very warm, the heat between decks op
pressive, the thermometer standing at 94 degrees of
Fahrenheit; extraordinary precautions were necessary
to preserve the health of my command. The hatches
Avere kept open, rain or shine, Avind-sails for the ven
tilation of the hold were rigged, lime liberally spread
and scattered between decks, and the men made to
leave their bunks in the day-time, unless excused by
the surgeon. I established a systera oi feet loashing,
which I claim as an original idea, at least I had
never read or heard of it Avhen I put it in practice.
Every evening at retreat the companies Avere paraded
successiA-ely upon the ship's deck ; every man Avith
his shoes and stockings off and pantaloons rolled over
and above his knees ; details Avere made Avho hoisted
aud threw sea-Avater upon the legs and feet of the
raen as they stood in ranks, until each raan had had
one bucketful as his quota of the briny element. At
first, the men were very restive, and it required com
mand to enforce the order, both to distribute the Avater
and submit to the bath, but after a few evenings' ex
ercise they became fond of it, and the chief difficulty
Avas to make them behave orderly Avhile the douch
ing was going on, each raan desiring to give particular
directions hoio and whei-e the Avater should be thrown.
The experiraent was very successful, and it Avas
continued daily until the end of the voyage ; it con
tributed to the preserA^ation of our health, and I Avas
enabled to land the detachraent Avithout the loss of a
man. I had Avith me an excellent set of officers ; they not
only assisted me, they did raore, for they gave me

31A RYLAND VOLUNTEER. 283
their entire sympathy as Avell as their support. In
the thirty days Ave Avere together on board the Alex
andria, I am sure that a cross word Avas never heard
betAveen us ; and I soon had occasion lo test the
strength of the discipline Avhich should mark their
character as soldiers. There were with rae Captain
Edraund Barry, First Lieutenant John M. Thornton,
and Second Lieutenants John Carr, Acting Adjutant,
and Benjarain R. West, of Company B; Captain Dan
Drake Henrie, First Lieutenant Frederick A. Klopfer,
and Second Lieutenant Richard P. Henry, of Cora
pany D ; Captain George W. Brown, First Lieutenant
Washington Hopper, and Second Lieutenants James
O'Brien and John H. Gronewell, of Company E. The
officers of Companies B and D Avere from Washington ;
Corapany E Avas raised in Baltimore.
On the 12th of August, Avhile lying to the south
Avard of Cuba, and in sight of the toAvn of Santo Jago
de Cuba, the pitch betAveen the seams of the deck
oozing up from the burning rays of the sun. Captain
Orderaan informed rae that a great deal of water Avas
being consuraed, that the ship Avas getting too light,
and asked rae to have the erapty Avater-casks filled
Avith sea-Avater; that he would have the pumps rigged,
and he Avould like it done at once, as he feared that
the great heat would be followed by a hurricane. I
issued an order directing a detail to be made for the
purpose indicated, and retired to my cabin to Avrite.
While thus engaged, the officer of the day came and
reported that the men detailed refused to work ; I
paid but little attention to him, merely repeating the
order, and continuing at my desk. In fifteen minutes

284 3IEM0IRS OF A
he returned, and asked what he was to do, as the men
flatly refused to obey his orders. I Avent on deck,
saAV that the pumps Avere rigged, the detail standing
about thera, the sailors grouped about the forecastle,
and an orainous silence over all. I directed the detail
to be ahgned, then inquired Avhy it was they refused
to Avork ; several of the men ansAvered at the sarae
time, '• that it Avas the sailors' place to pump Avater
into the ship; that they AA'ere soldiers, and Avould not
do sailors' Avork." I saw that it Avas a matured plan
to refuse this duty, and deeming it adA'isable to tem
porize, I replied that the Avork Avas necessary for the
safety of all, that the captain of the ship Avas the
judge as to what was expedient to be done for our
comraon 2'ood, and that Avhen he had told me the ne-
cessity of filling the erapty casks, the reason Avas so
palpable that I had not hesitated for an instant in
giving the order which I had issued, and that they
must obey it ; that a good soldier always obeyed an
order and discussed its propriety afterward. They
all .mswered that they Avould not obey the order to
pump Avater into the casks ; one of them saying he
had been a sailor and had done sailors' Avork ; now
that he Avas a soldier he Avould not be a sailor. In
quiring this raan's name, and calling hira by it, I
ordered hira to step tAvo paces to the front ; he did
so. I directed the officer of the guard to procilre
several pairs of handcuffs; these Avere promptly
brought. I ordered the man to hold out his hands ;
fortunately, he obeyed. I told the officer of the
guard to iron him ; it Avas done at once ; the mutiny
Avas quelled. The second man named in the detail

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 285
was ordered to step to the front, extend his hands,
and he Avas ironed; the third Avas called, and likewise
ironed. As the fourth man stepped to the front, he
said he Avould obey the order, as did all the others of
the detail, and the pumps Avere soon going.
It Avas a touch-and-go piece of Avork.
I kept these men ironed and guarded by officers on
the quarter-deck until a heavy storm came on ; Avhen
they begged so hard to have the irons removed, that
I released tAvo of thera, but kept the ringleader se
curely fastened.
I had no raore trouble in raaintaining discipline on
board the ship ; the drills Avere continued, and as
the fresh Avater was consumed, sea-Avater Avas puraped
from the ocean and the empty casks filled. We lay
becalmed for several days to the southAvard of Cuba;
the heat continued to increase, as did the consuraption
of Avater, and grave apprehensions of a Avant of the
latter daily arose. On Sunday, the loth of August,
when off" the island of Jamaica and out of sight of land,
a bird flcAV toAvard the ship and alighted on my head.
I did not move, and it then hopped on mj- shoulder.
We took a good look at each other, then it flcAv aAvay.
It Avould be untrue for me to say that I did not con
sider this incident a fortunate augury.
On the 17th Ave made Cape San Antonio, the Avest-
ernraost point of the island of Cuba; at 9.-30 p.m., on"
the night of the 18th, saAV a raeteor, Avhich like an
iraraense globe of fire traversed at least one-fourth of
the horizon. This Avas folloAved by a hurricane storm,
Avhich droA^e us rapidly on our course across the Gulf
On the 19 th Ave Avere on the Banks of Carapeche, off"

286 MEMOIRS OF A
Yucatan, in thirty-six fathom water, and on the 22d
made the mainland of Mexico, forty railes to the north
of Vera Cruz.
At 9 o'clock P.M., on the 23d, raade the lighthouse
on the castle of San Juan de Ulloa, and at the sarae
time approached a large ship, Avhich proved to be our
consort, the '' Napier" frora Baltiraore, Avith the other
detachment of our regiment. I have heard louder
but never more joyous cheers than those which Avent
up from the decks of the tAvo ships, when in response
to our hail, it was learned that the two detachments
had again met.
August 24. This day one month ago Ave embarked
at Baltimore, and to-day at 10 a.m. we dropped anchor
in the roads between the castle and the mole of Vera
Cruz. Our Avhole ship's crcAv Avas Avell, our health
excellent during the voyage, while the Napier buried
in the sea one of its detachment, and brought along
a good many sick. The first object that attracted our
attention Avas the lowering of two dead bodies in coffins
from the sea-wall of the castle into a boat, and the
next a pile of empty coffins on the mole as Ave landed
from the ship to report our arrival. Everything else
Avas dead in the blazing, glistening sunlight; not a
living object, not one moving thing could I see, as I
walked along the mole to the governor's quarters,
Avhich I kncAv Avhere to find. It needed nothing but
the appearance of things, the absence of all life, — not
a soldier, citizen, or sailor to be seen, not an animal,
— to tell me that the yellow fever, the dread black
A'omit, Avas raging in this fiery oven of a plague-
stricken city.

31 A RYLAND VOLUNTEER. 287
I found my old friend and former commander. Colo
nel Henry Wilson, of the United States Army, still
GoA^ernor, and on his back Avith the yelloAv fever.
After a brief consultation I left him, Avent to the
quartermaster's office, and putting life into things
generally, — I had every raan frora both transports
landed on the beach by 4 o'clock in the afternoon.
Before dark, ray carap and garrison equipage, arras and
stores, Avere all landed, and a regular carap established
at a point called Vergara, distant three railes from
Vera Cruz.
This night proved a rough beginning for young
soldiers ; our sentries (Avith one single exception)
Avere driven in by the Mexicans, Avho fired into our
camp from the adjacent sand-hills, Avhile the torrents
of rain Avhich fell Avashed the sands upon which Ave
lay and stood into the surf and ocean, turabling up
SAvelling Avaves on our parade ground, Avhere I had
had a dress parade the preceding evening.
There Avas much alarra at Vera Cruz ; no tidings
had been received from General Scott for weeks, as
the road to the city of Me.xico Avas closed except to
strong bodies of troops. Rumors were rife that Scott's
army Avas in great peril, and the Avhole country from
the Gulf coast to the valley of Mexico was SAvarming
Avith guerillas ; to add to the demoralization, there
Avas lying near ray carap a detachment Avhich had
started to join Scott, but had met with a disastrous
repulse at the National Bridge, and retreated to Vera
Cruz. It was believed that the city itself Avas not safe
from sudden attack, and Governor Wilson had obtained
frora the naval commander the presence of a vessel of

288 3IE310IRS OF A
war in the roads. On the day next succeeding my
arrival, I received the following order :
" Headquarters, Depaktme^-t of A''era Cruz,
"Mexico, August 26, 1847.
"Orders No. 53.]
" ^lajor John R. Kenly, Maryland Yolunteers, Avill take the
entire comraand at Yergara.* On the 31st inst., at half-past 7
o'clock A.AI., he will muster the Maryland Volunteers ; and Captain
Sheppard, Eighth United States Infantry, will rauster the rest
of tbe troops encaraped and on guard at that place, except that
Captain Fairchild's troops of Louisiana Mounted Yolunteers will
be mustered by Lieutenant-Colonel Miles, f United States Array.
" By order of Colonel Wilson,
" (Signed) B. H. Arthur,
" Adjutant Pirst U. S. Infantry, and A.A.A.G. Dep't. A^era Cruz."
Things looked very gloomy; I had never before
seen anything like the depression and despondency
Avhich prevailed. The heat was literally intense, and
the sun from its rising to its going down looked and
felt like a huge globe of fire. At night the mosqui
toes — and their name was legion — Avere worse than
those I had knoAvn a year ago on the Rio Grande, and
the fear of the fever was becoming very general. We
¦'¦ The troops thus assigned to my comraand consisted of one
company of the Eighth United States Infantry, Captain Sheppard ;
two corapanies of the Eleventh United States Infantry, Captains
W. H. Taliaferro and McComas ; one company of the Twelfth
United States Infantry, Captain Wells, and Captain Fairchild's
Louisiana Mounted Men; in all about eight hundred men. On
the 27th I mounted a grand guard with details from the various
detachments, which proved an excellent school of instruction, and
in the several attacks wbich were nightly made upon our camp,
displayed a creditable degree of discipline.
f Lieutenant-Colonel Allies was not with the detachment which
bad just been defeated at the ^lational Bridge, nor was Captain
W. H. Taliaferro.

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 289
had one relief, one source of great enjoyraent: at night
Ave rolled among the breakers of the Gulf without
danger from undertow, and this luxury of a bath
strengthened us to bear the heat of the day, by
giving us the sweet sleep of repose.
At an interview with Colonel Wilson on the 29th
of August, I told him that Colonel Hughes would
shortly arrive, and begged him to permit us to pro
ceed as soon as he came, to help General Scott, as I
believed from all I could learn, he needed every man
that could be raised. The Governor intimated that
the force could not be spared frora Vera Cruz, and was
not sufficiently strong to force its Avay through the
interior, but that he daily expected additional troops
frora the United States, and knowing the efforts I
had made to hasten forAvard, he Avould give me orders
to march as soon as he deemed it safe.
In coming out of toAvn on my return to camp, I
could not but laugh at the handbills staring one in
the face at every corner : " Zinc coffins of various sizes
and patterns were to be had on sale, No. so and so, Calle
de etc. etc. ;" and every raan I met looked as if he Avere
coming into town to get one of these identical coffins.
I made this reflection as I rode along, that if I Avere
a rich raan or of much higher rank than that of Major,
I would also be afraid of the yellow fever.
" Headquarters Battalion D. C. and il'D. Vol's.,
Camp, Vergara, August 27, 1847.
' ' Orders. ]
" The regular stated calls in this camp will be as follows:
"I. Reveille at 5 o'clock a.ji. ; sick-call at 6 a.m. ; the first
call for guard-mounting at 7| a.m.; orderly call at 11 a.m.;
retreat at 6^ p.m., and tattoo at 9 p.m.
19

290 MEMOIRS OF A
" II. At reveille the men will be turned out, the roll called by
the orderly sergeants, superintended by a commissioned officer
of each company, and each company parade will be policed; the
prisoners at the guard-house will at the same time be made to
police the regimental parade ; at the sick-call the sick of each
company will be conducted by the orderly sergeants to the Sur
geon's quarters, which will be hereafter designated ; the first
call for guard-mounting at 7i o'clock, a.m., will be the signal for
the raen warned for duty to turn out on their company parades
for inspection by the orderly sergeants superintended by a com
missioned officer of each company ; at the orderly call each
orderly sergeant will repair to the Adjutant's office for orders ;
at retreat there will be a dress parade on the regimental parade
ground, prior to which the commanding officers will make a
minute inspection of the arms and ammunition of their com
panies ; at tattoo the men will be ordered to their quarters, and
half an bour afterward taps will be sounded, at whicb signal the
patrol will be sent through the camp for the purpose of arrest
ing those who, without a legitiraate excuse, are found wandering
about the carap.
"III. Guard-raounting will take place at 8 o'clock a.m., the
orderly sergeants of each corapany conducting their respective
details to the parade ; and commanding officers will be held
strictly responsible for tbe fitness of their details for guard duty.
" I Y. A morning report from each company must be handed in
to the Adjutant's office before guard-mounting, each report to
be signed by the orderly sergeant and the commanding officer
of the company.
" Y. As it is of tbe most vital importance that the men should be
instructed in the school of the soldier, the captains of companies
are hereby strictly enjoined to drill and cause to be drilled at
every seasonable opportunity, their respective commands. The
efficiency or inefficiency of a company will rest alone upon its
commanding ofiicer.
" YI. No intoxicating drinks will be permitted to be sold, offered
for sale, or kept by any sutler, storekeeper, or camp-follower,
within the camp, or its immediate vicinity ; any person violating
this order will be most summarily dealt with and punished.

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 291
" VII. In case of an alarm or a night attack, each company
will be rapidly formed and marched to the regimental parade,
with the exception of those companies, the commanding officers
of which have received separate instructions.
"By order " John E. Kenlt,
"Major Battalion D. C. and M'd, Vol's.,
commanding the Forces at Vergara."
" 3Iuster Roll of the Field and Staff of the District of Colum
bia and 3Iaryland Volunteers, on the 31st day of August,
1847, at Camp Vergara, near Vera Cruz.
"COMMISSIONED STAFF.
" Lieutenant Colonel George W. Hughes, absent on duty.
" Major John R. Kenly, present for duty.
" Surgeon Stedman R. Tilghman, present for duty.
" Adjutant John Carr, present for duty.
" Assistant Commissary of Subsistence, Henry A. Addison,
" present for duty.
" NON COMMISSIONED STAFF.
" William J. Gary, Sergeant Major, present for duty.
" John Purden, Quartermaster's Sergeant, present for duty.
" I certify on honor that this Muster Roll exhibits the true
state of the Field and Staff of the Battalion of District of Colum
bia and Maryland Volunteers, called into the service of the
United States by the President, under the Act of Congress
approved May 13th, 1846, and that the remarks set opposite to
each are correct and just. " John K. Kenlt,
" Major Battalion D. C. and M'd. Vol's.,
Inspector and Mustering Officer,
" Camp Vergara, near Vbka Cruz,
"August 31, 1847."
September 1. Colonel Hughes arrived last night
from New Orleans, and about the same time we
learned that General Scott had been victorious in a
battle fought not far from the city of Mexico. The

292 MEMOIRS OF A
change that this news made in Vera Cruz was so
great that one scarcely recognized his acquaintances
of the preceding day. It was from darkness and
gloom to sunshine and joy. I this day paraded the
battalion, and felt great pride in its appearance when
I turned over the command to my ranking and com
manding officer. His praise of my conduct was very
gratifying, and I had an honest pleasure in feeling
that I deserved it, for I had made a handsome bat
talion out of the command. I had reason to believe,
that the officers and men shared the pride they knew
I felt on hearing Colonel Hughes's address.
The steamer that brought Colonel Hughes from
New Orleans brought also five companies of the
Second Illinois regiment of infantry, so that our force,
Avith the co-operation of the sailors, was deeraed suffi
cient by Governor Wilson to relieve all apprehensions
for the safety of Scott's base, which would have been
seriously endangered had his first battle in the val
ley resulted unfavorably.
On the Sth of September we received orders to pre
pare to advance ; during the day the companies
selected were notified, and soon the busy hum of men
Avas heard through the camp. There Avas an unmis
takeable reluctance to move on the part of those who
had tried it once before, and the heat, the intense
heat which prevailed, depressed the spirits of others,
so that there was not the sarae enthusiasra I had
always before noticed among troops ordered to march.
We all wanted to get away from the fever, but some
thought we might go further and fare worse.

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 293

CHAPTER XXVI.
MARCH INTO THE INTERIOR.
The city of Mexico lies to the west and north of
Vera Cruz, and is distant by ray calculation tAvo
hundred and sixty-two miles from the latter city.
To reach it frora the Gulf, you pass literally through
the torrid, temperate, and frigid zones, for although
the valley of Mexico is but seven thousand five hun
dred feet above the level of the sea, you have to cross
the mountains Avhich hem it on its eastern border at
an altitude of between ten and eleven thousand feet.
The State of Vera Cruz, into which we were uoav
about to penetrate, lies under the burning sky of the
tropics, betAveen 17° and 22° of north latitude, and
96° and 101° degrees Avest longitude from Paris ; it is
bounded on the north by the State of Tamaulipas,
on the east by the Gulf of Mexico, and on the south
and west by the States of Tabasco and Puebia. On
the Gulf coast and for several miles inland there is a
belt of sandy desert and burning wastes ; here frora
the month of May to November the black vomit rages
uninterruptedly, and the city of Vera Cruz, in the
centre of this arid plain, is the focus of the deadly
scourge.* As you raarch to the Avest the country
* Mr. Brantz Mayer, in his valuable work, " Mexico : Aztec,
Spanish, and Piepublican," says " that none but natives of the
town, or acclimated foreigners, are free frora its attacks, and the

294 MEMOIRS OF A
rises gently to the Antigua, and from thence upw^ard
through the Cerro Gordo pass, toward and beyond
Jalapa, until you meet with the spur of the grand
Cordillera, called the Cofre of Perote, whose southern
apex is the magnificent and unparalleled mountain
peak of Orizaba.* Still farther to the west, as you
enter upon the vast plateau or plain of Puebia in the
State of the same narae, you are in a temperate region,
groAving the cereals of an excellent quality and amaz
ing productiveness, until finally you commence the
ascent of the mountains Avhich form the iron and icy
barrier of the far-famed valley of Mexico. The State
of Puebia lies west of Vera Cruz, and the State of
frightful inroads it made among our troops in the year 1847
will long be remembered in the history of our country. Time
does not appear to have had any effect on this dreadful disease.
Increase of population and sanitary precautions do not seem to
abate- its malignity; and the science of the ablest physicians is
entirely at fault in dealing Avith it."
When I was in Yera Cruz last, an expedient had been
adopted which was believed to be beneficial, that was, build
ing huge fires in the streets of the town, which were kept burn
ing night and day by fresh supplies of fuel.
* The Peak of Orizaba, in the Aztec tongue " mountain of the
star," is an extinct volcano which rises to the enormous height
of seventeen thousand nine hundred and seven feet, and is said
to be the highest point on the continent of North America.
Although one hundred miles from the coast in the interior, it
is visible fifty miles at sea, and is a prominent landmark to all
mariners who voyage in the Gulf of Mexico. It is covered with
perpetual snow ; no language can do justice to the beauty and
unsurpassed loveliness of its majestic cone of silver, when glis
tening under the rays of the rising and setting sun. On two
occasions while in the Tierra Caliente we thought we saw smoke
issuing from its summit ; we might have been mistaken.

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 295
Mexico, to Avhich its capital gave the name, lies west
of the State of Puebia. The State of Mexico lies
betAveen 16° and 21° of north latitude, and 100° and
105° of west longitude from Paris; it is bounded on the
north by the State of Queretaro, on the east by the
State of Puebia, on the west by the States of Guana
juato and Michoacan, and on the south-west lies
the broad Pacific Ocean and its harbor of Acapulco.
Between the Gulf coast and the valley of Mexico,
Ave have three distinct and diverse lands, with three
several cliraates, and with three several names, viz. : the
Tierras Calientes, or hot lands ; the Tierras Templadas,
or temperate lands ; the Tierras Frias, or cold lands.
Humboldt says " that the climates succeed each
other in strata or layers as we pass from Vera Cruz to
the capital — beholding in our varied journey the
whole scale of vegetable life. The wild abundance
of vegetation on the shore of the Gulf — its beautiful
palms whose stems are Avreathed by a myriad of im
penetrable parasites which grow with such rank luxu
riance in the hot and humid air of the tropics —
are exchanged, as Ave begin to rise from the level of
the sea, for hardier forest trees. At Jalapa the air is
milder, though the vapors from the Gulf, which con
centrate and condense at this height on the sides of
the mountains, sustain the perpetual freshness of the
verdure. Farther on, the oak and the orange give
place to the fir and the pine. Here the rarefied air
becomes pure, thin and perfectly transparent ; but as
it lacks moisture, which condenses below this region,
the vegetation is neither so luxuriant nor so con
stantly vigorous. Great plains or basins spread out

296 MEMOIRS OF A
in silent and melancholy vistas before the traveler —
many of them cold, bleak, and lonely moors, whose
dreary levels sadden the heart of the spectator. The
sun which comes down through the cloudless medium
of an atmosphere, unscreened by the usual curtain of
vapor, parches and crisps the thirsty soil, whilst the
winds, that sweep uninterruptedly over the unbroken
expanse, fill the air during the dry season with sand
and dust." Many of the fruits and flowers, the grains
and vegetables, the forests and the trees, the birds and
the animals of the torrid, the temperate, and the
frigid zones are to be found in this narroAv strip of
less than three hundred miles, lying as above de
scribed, between the ocean and the mountains around
the valley of Mexico. Araong the plants and fruits
and trees which groAv luxuriantly raay be raentioned
tobacco, coffee, sugar, cotton, corn, barley, Avlieat,
jalap, sarsaparilla, vanilla, pineapples, oranges, cit
rons, leraons, poraegranates, bananas, chirim(jyas,
pears, water-melons, peaches, apricots, grapes ; araong
the trees, the raahogany, ebony, cedar, oak, taraarind,
palm, fig, dye-woods, and near Jalapa, a mimosa,
from which the pungent gum exudes to make the in
cense used in the Catholic church ceremonies. In
one day's ride a traveler may pass through and expe
rience every gradation of climate, from the torrid heat
of the Gulf coast to the icy shiver of the frigid, frora
the equatorial to the polar circle ; every zone raarked
by its OAvn peculiar vegetation, the sugar-cane and
the fir, the vanilla and the pine-cone, the cactus and
the maguey.
The Tierras Calientes is the home of the orange.

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 297
the banana, the pineapple, and the innumerable
variety of the cactus. Here swarm countless herds of
cattle, whose hides, tallow, and horns constitute a
large portion of the country's commerce. Here may
be found the Bedouins of the New World, the ranche
ros, — herdsmen by name, but true children of the
desert; nomadic, brave, fiiithful, and attached to their
country, they furnish arrieros for trade and guerilleros
for war.
The Tierras Templadas is the land of the cereals,
and the human eye never beheld such fields of bar
ley as we saw on the grand plateau of Anahuac and
in the valley of San Martin. On its eastern borders the
sugar-cane and the orange flourish luxuriantly, Avhilst
the perennial vegetation in the vicinity of Jalapa
makes it the garden spot of the Avorld. Tobacco and
coffee grow side by side with the pineapple and pome
granate, and the smoke of the sugar manufactories
mingles Avith the perfume of the mimosa and vanilla.
Countless numbers of orange groves are interspersed
with orchards of pineapples; and the melon, and the
unique chirira6ya aid in making the Department of
Jalapa the land so long sought by Ponce de Leon, —
the land where the dolce far niente of life may be en
joyed in an unrivaled climate, and amid a people
Avhose nature is peace and whose habits are Arcadian.
There is nothing to mark the Tierras Frias until,
after ascending the eastern slopes of its rocky fast
nesses, you perceive the valley of Mexico lying at
your feet ; here is the land of flowers and the maguey,
both indigenous, both intimately connected with the
habits and the history, the traditions and the charac-

298 MEMOIRS OF A
ter, of the Aztec Indian race. It was here in the lake
lying atyourfeet,that the eagle seized the serpent upon
the cactus, and marked the spot where the wanderings
of their people should cease ; and the beautiful flowers
which decked the edges of these magnificent reser
voirs of sweet water, and which their women plucked
with girlish admiration, are still interwoven with the
dark locks of their descendants at this day, as they
come in their boats laden with roses to the market
places of the capital. The maguey was to the Aztec
what the cocoa-palm is to the Hindoo and the Malay.
From its fibres thread was raade ; from its bark paper,
better than the papyrus of Egypt ; their houses were
covered with its leaves, sewn together by the needles
in the shape of thorns shooting out from each edge ;
its fluid — pulque — was meat and drink, life, luxury,
and the pursuit of happiness then to the Aztec, as
it is now to the Mexican.
If, instead of the cactus, the maguey were blazoned
upon the shield of Mexico, I think perhaps they
might have better luck.
The three States of Vera Cruz, Puebia and Mexico
contain about one-fourth of the whole population of the
Republic, say one and a half millions of inhabitants.
Some writers estimate the total population of Mexico
at eight millions. I doubt this ; for from appearances
the population has been decreasing, and this estiraate
of eight millions was based upon an increase of ten
per cent, over a former estimate.
I may as well give sorae data about Mexico, al
though I am only personally acquainted with the
States of Tamaulipas, New Leon, Coahuila, Vera Cruz,

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 299
Puebia and Mexico. It lies between 17° and 32°
of north latitude, and 95° and 115° Avest longitude,
and comprises an area of about eight hundred and
fifty thousand square miles. Its population has
been before referred to, and I think does not ex
ceed, if it equals, six millions of inhabitants. The
States composing the federated republic are : Chiapas,
Chihuahua, Durango, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Jalisco,
Mexico, Michoacan, Nueva Leon, Oajaca, Puebia,
Qu^r^taro, San Luis Potosi, Sinalao, Sonora, Tabasco,
Tamaulipas, Tlascala, Vera Cruz, Zacatecas, and per
haps Yucatan may be included, but its relations with
the central government have been more than equivo
cal for some years past.
This territory is occupied by three peoples, as dis
tinct, as diverse, and as strongly marked in their dif
ference as its physical and geographical divisions :
the Indian, the Spaniard of old Spain, and the off
spring of these two races, raaking a third, known as or
which we should call, the Mexican. I include araong
the Spaniards the white Creoles, that is, white people
born in the country, and the whole number does not
exceed one million ; there are between three and four
millions of pure-blood Indians, and the remainder of
the population embraces all the castes and colors from
the Mestizo, the offspring of the white father and
Indian mother, to the Mulatto and Brown Mestizo or
Zambo, which includes the small proportion of negro
blood brought into the country from the neighboring
West India Islands.
I may have occasion hereafter to speak of the
characteristics of each of these races.

300 MEMOIRS OF A
The religion of the country is Roman Catholic, but
it seemed to me that as a people they were not de
voted to the church ; the Indians were docile and
bittable, but it also seemed that the story told of one
of them shortly after the conquest Avas still true. He
was reproached for his inattention to the duties of
mother church, when he replied that the gods given
his people by the Spaniards were doubtless very good,
but he thought that they might have left them a few
of their own.
I make no reflection against the church or its
clergy ; they have done Avonders, and Avrought mar
vellous Avorks in reclaiming an idolatrous people from
image Avorship, and the sacrifice of huraan beings to
hideous stones; yet the field remains seemingly but
half-worked, and there is abundant roora for Christian
labor, yea, for all raanner of labor looking to the wel
fare of our fellow-creatures.

CHAPTER XXVIL

capture and occupation of the national bridge.
On the morning of the 6 th of September, 1847, Ave
bade farewell to the sea-breezes of the Gulf and its
exhilarating surf-baths for nearly ten months. At 4
o'clock A.M. Ave broke carap at Vergara, and at 5 our
comraand took up its line of march over the sands,
with our backs to the blazing sun ; for it is a strange
fact that the sun is as hot a half hour after it rises

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 301
as it is at mid-day, in this tropical region. Our backs
were also /rom home, and raany a long lingering look
was turned to the east, as we plodded slowly through
the desert Avhich environs Vera Cruz. Our force con
sisted of five corapanies of our regiment, one company
of the Eleventh Infantry, one company of the Twelfth
Infantry, two squadrons of Louisiana mounted raen,
and one corapany of United States Artillery, with tAVO
guns, a six-pounder and a tAvelve-pound howitzer. It
Avas a Aveir organized and appointed force, the whole
under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel George W.
Hughes, of our regiraent.
At noon we arrived at the village of Santa Fe,
Avhich had been burned at our approach, and we were
warned by every indication that Ave Avould have to
fight our way. We remained here for rest and re
organization until 5 P.J[., Avhen we resuraed the raarch.
As Ave approached the river San Juan, firing Avas
coraraenced against us on both flanks, but without
doing us any damage, as the guerillas were away in
the chaparral, and their aim was uncertain. We
drove them back deeper into the thicket, and bivouacked
iraraediately upon the stone bridge which spans the
river, as its parapets were an excellent protection to
the annoying fire continued at intervals during the
night. September 7. At daylight resumed our march ; at
8 o'clock had a glorious view of the Peak of Ori
zaba, whose lofty silver cone was tinged by the sun to
colors as beautiful as ever charmed the eye ; it soon
became overpoweringly oppressive and sultry, so that
the men marched with great difficulty over the heavy

302 MEMOIRS OF A
sands ; we had to halt for several hours to refresh the
troops; at 5 p.m. resumed our march and discovered
a considerable body of the enemy on the first heights
we had seen since we left the coast; halted, made a
reconnaissance, and I advanced with two corapanies of
infantry, driving the enemy from the hills, which were
taken possession of and held, while the cavalry was
thrown forward toward the town which was to be
seen at our feet. I saw the enemy leaving the town,
and our cavalry returned and reported it as being
entirely abandoned.
This was the famous " Robbers' Den," as it was
called, a noted haunt of guerillas and robbers, but
properly named. El Paso de Ovejaa.
We marched into it very carefully, after crossing a
beautiful bridge, and bivouacked in the plaza, occu
pying the market-house as a place d' armes. Our
camp-fires lighted up the gloomy surroundings, and a
more compact body of men I never before saw than
Avas to be found that night in this little town. There
was no attempt to pass beyond our line of sentries
by either friend or foe, and the night passed quietly.
September 8. As we left the town we were fired
upon with great rapidity, the firing seeming to come
principally from the arches beneath the bridge ; I was
with the rear-guard at the time. It was at once about-
faced and put to firing, and this soon checked the
demonstration. At 9 a.m. our advance guard reported
large bodies of the enemy ahead; we still advanced, the
enemy slowly retiring, until we reached a range of hills
distant some two miles from the Antigua, where we
halted. The men could go no farther, — the heat was

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 303
fearful. We had to stop, or we would have had no
command, as the men were unable to raarch.
During the day, the enemy hoA^ered around us,
firing, and feeling us, at every step of our march, and
after we halted they thrcAv a volley into us, having
approached to within less than fifty yards of our
camp. Our escape was miraculous ; not a raan was
struck. Several of the balls Avent through our only
wagon, in which our colored servants were enjoying
a lunch; their exit Avas so sudden that a general
laugh followed their hasty flight to a place of greater
security. Captain M. K. Taylor's corapany of rifles
was thrown out, and the guerillas kept at a raore
respectful distance. About raidnight, all lying on our
arms, in the midst of a deluge of rain, Ave heard heavy
firing in the direction of the National Bridge. Spring
ing up, we were totally at a loss to account for the
firing in that direction ; the sharp challenge of our
sentries soon brought to a halt the party upon whom
the fire had been directed, and we learned that in
trying to run the gauntlet of the bridge, the enemy
had killed tAvo of their party and two of their horses.
All night long the firing was continued at intervals,
and the Mexicans seemed to be in great exultation at
the loss they had inflicted upon our cavalry. It might
have proved a much more serious misadventure than
it turned out. As it was, corabined with the rain
storm which deluged our camp, and the fatigue and
loss of sleep, our raen were a good deal out of spirits.
On this very day, there Avas being fought in the
valley of Mexico a bloody battle at Molino del Rey,
between the armies of Scott and Santa Anna, the

304 3IEM0IRS OF A
result of which caused great gloom among our little
handful of braves ; for although the Mexicans were
driven from their defenses, it was at a frightful sacri
fice of life, and without any corresponding equivalent
or advantage. Of course Ave were entirely ignorant
of this, but we all felt that duty demanded eA^ery
effort on our part to carry and hold the pass which
Ave were noAV approaching. There Avas an indescriba
ble sense of isolation and of responsibility which was
shared by each and every one of us.
September 9. We left our bivouac at sunrise,
marched slowly and Avith flanking parties for a couple
of hours, and carae in sight of the large stone fort on
the summit of the hill to the left of the road, and
Avhich overlooks the bridge and commands the road
for a long distance on both sides of the river. We
could see numbers of the enemy on the Avails and
parapets, Avaving their guns and swords by way
of inviting an attack. This we came to do, and pre
parations were immediately made to take the fort, to
drive the enemy from the surrounding heights and
force the passage of the bridge, which was strongly
barricaded and covered toward us by an earth-work.
Our guns Avere placed in position by Lieutenant
Fields, United States Array, and opened fire upon the
fort ; the solid shot flew over it or Avere buried in its
parapets, the shell exploded all about it, but owing to
the elevation the artillery fire did nothing but make
the Mexicans drop their heads below the Avails as the
missiles carae towards them. Colonel Hughes now
ordered two corapanies to raove to the right of the
road toward the river, and in person gave me orders

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 305
to take three corapanies of our regiraent. Captains
Dolan, Barry and BroAvn, with fifty dismounted dra
goons, to endeavor to ascend the hill and take the
fort in reverse. At the same time he gave to me a
Mexican who had promised, for the sum of fifty dol
lars, to guide my detachment to a pass, and by a Avay
through which we could reach the fort. I doubted
the trustworthiness of this fellow, but he was true to
us and proved a trusty guide in this instance.
Dismounting from my horse, and ordering my raen
to throAV oflfjackets and haversacks, I descended the
slope on the left of the road, the guide at ray side,
Avith a full understanding that his position Avas a very
delicate one ; we were soon in a sedge-grass higher
than our heads, which fortunately concealed us from
the enemy, Avho could easily overlook us from the
fort, but they Avere kept close by the shot Avhich Avere
flying above us, and Avhich we could see burying
themselves in the fort. The heat down here was
sraothering, but we toiled noiselessly and rapidly to
the ridge and reached a break Avhich looked as if
formerly a rivulet of water had poured down at this
point. Our guide said this was the place to
ascend. There was no time for hesitation, though
I believed that not one half my command could
get to the top, which was at least fifty feet from
where we stood. There was a stout grapevine run
ning down this washed rut in the face of the cliff", and
several bushes were growing with their roots in the
earth between the foot and the crest of the height.
I ordered the guide to mount, told him that I would
follow, and rapidly gave my instructions to Captain
20

306 ME310IRS OF A
Dolan who was at my side. The guide hesitated, said
it was not a part of his bargain, — that all he had
promised to do he had complied with, — had shown
us the Avay to get to the rear of the fort. If we Avere
now discoA'ered where we were, we were helpless, and
my command would have been destroyed ; and, still-
doubting the guide, I advanced arguments so forcible
that he sprang to his Avork and I followed him to
the top.
Captain Dolan was next after me. By posting
several men Avho held on with one hand to the bushes
and vine, leaving the other hand free, I passed the
musket of each soldier after him as he progressed tp
the top, and as soon as I got one company up I felt
more relieved than Avords can express. It Avas a very-
hazardous undertaking; Ave could hear the voices of
the soldiers in the fort, and every thud made by the
solid shot striking seemed to be felt by us, so close to
the earth Avere we pressed whilst climbing up the face
of the height. In much less tirae than I had antici
pated my coraraand Avas on the plateau in line, Avith
the disraounted dragoons advancing as skirraishers.
There was not width enough for the front of
my three companies, the precipice on my left drop
ping down to the river at its base, and on my right,
the hillside by Avhich I had ascended fell nearly as
abruptly but not to so great a distance. The spur
rose rapidly toward the fort, Avhich Avas built on its
farther end, overhanging the raain road to the city of
Mexico, and looking down on the bridge Avhich
crossed the Antigua at this point. Beyond the river,
on the opposite side of the road, Avas another and cor-

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 307
responding height, Avhich was likcAvise occupied by
the enemy but not fortified. My command formed
in a column of companies, dashed forward with a
yell, and was soon over a wall which I thought at
first was belonging to the fort, but soon saAv my
mistake, for the main work yet loomed up fifty yards
farther on.
The Mexicans were corapletely taken by surprise ;
our pace Avas r.apid, we received one straggling fire
and Ave were within the fort. I confess to this being
the happiest moment of ray life, for my anxiety had
been intense. The enemy escaped by leaping over
the walls which fronted toward the river and de
scended well-knoAvn paths, but concealed from us, to
the jungle on its banks ; while toiling up the height
from the road carae Major W. B. Taliaferro's cora
panies of the Eleventh and Twelfth Infantry, firing
as they advanced, fully believing that the Mexicans
Ave re still in the fort. Colonel Hughes had sent for
Avard these corapanies as a diversion in my behalf,
and it was their advance which doubtless saved me
from a severe loss. I had but one man wounded in
the assault, and one of the strongest natural passes
in the country Avas in our possession ; the road to
Mexico through the Tierras Calientes was never after
ward closed during the continuance of the Avar. The
loss of this place Avas the death-bloAv to the guerilla
systera which had nigh been successful in paralyzing
the efforts of our array. The view from the parapets
of the fort was magnificent, and at our feet our men
were destroying the barricades on the bridge, and the
artillery passing with the troops. It was really a

308 MEMOIRS OF A
very interesting display, and to Colonel Hughes
great praise is due for the admirable manner in which
he had succeeded in the attack and capture of the
National Bridge, which during the whole war had
been a thorn in our flanks, and had never before been
held by the American army.
In the course of a couple of hours orders were got
up to me to descend Avith one of the companies ;
crossing the bridge I passed through the village and
took up my quarters with Colonel Hughes in the
mansion of Santa Anna, which fronted the highway
some hundred yards west of the bridge.
In its marble-paved halls my hammock was slung,
and side arms with horse accoutrements soon made
things look comfortable, despite the absence of beds
and chamber furniture.

CHAPTER XXVIIL
guerilleros.
As early as the 6th of May, 1847, General Scott
wrote to Secretary Marcy :
" Our difificultiea lie in gathering in subsistence from a country
covered with exasperated guerillas and banditti, and maintain
ing with inadequate garrisons and escorts communications with
tbe rear."
The following was published in the Monitor news
paper, in the city of Mexico :

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 309

" PROCLAMATION.
" The citizen Mariana Salas, General of Brigade and. Colonel
of the Regiment Hidalgo, to my fellow-citizens.
'' My Friends: The present movement is the most proper to
excite the public spirit, and form a nation of men truly free. When
an enemy triumphs by his union to rob us of our dearest inter
ests, there is nothing raore sure and more certain than to van
quish him by valor and constancy. For this end I have obtained
perraission to raise a guerilla corps, with which to attack and
destroy the invaders in every raanner iraaginable. The conduct
of the eneray, contrary both to humanity and natural rights,
authorizes us to pursue him without pity. War witlwut pity unto
death! will be the motto of the guerilla warfare of vengeance.
Therefore I invite all my fellow-citizens, especially ray brave
subordinates, to unite at general headquarters to enrol them
selves, from nine until three in the afternoon, so tbat it raay be
organized in the present week. " JosB Mariana Salas.
" Mexico, April 21, 1817."
On the 4th of June, 1847, General Scott Avrote :
" It is ascertained that any sick or wounded men left in the
road, or in small villages, would be certainly murdered by guerilla
parties, rancheros or banditti. And I am not absolutely certain
that threats of punishment will render our hospitals safe, even
in large cities. Explain, to all, the rules of war in such cases.
Military hospitals are universally regarded by civilized enemies
as sacred."
On the 19th of July, 1847, the Secretary of War
wrote to General Scott :
" The difficulties to be encountered on the route to the interior
have rendered it necessary to detain the successive detachments
at Yera Cruz, until concentrated in sufficient force to take up the
line of raarch for your headquarters. The breaking up of our
post at Jalapa appears to have greatly increased the difficulties

310 31EM0IRS OF A
of our communications with the interior of the country. Efforts
are making to raise several mounted companies of acclimated
men at New Orleans and in that region, principally for the pur
pose of having them eraployed at Yera Cruz to protect the pub
lic property at that place, and to defend it, and to clear the route
into the interior, of the guerillas who infest and obstruct it."
Again General Scott Avrote :
" It is the uDiversal opinion of well-inforraed persons in this
country that troops may land at Yera Cruz, and by marching
promptly reach the healthy region, with little or no loss from
disease, as late as some time in June;* whereas even Mexicans
of tbe upper country would suffer greatly in a week, by a visit
to the Tierra Caliente. General Santa Anna is at present at
Cordova or Orizaba, endeavoring to create a new army of irregu
lars. Other generals are also endeavoring to prepare for a guer
illa war upon our detachments, trains and stragglers, and they
may, without great precautions on our part, do much harm in
tbe aggregate. Our dangers and difficulties are all in the rear,
between tbis place (Jalapa) and Yera Cruz : 1st. Tbe season of
the year, heat; and, below Cerro Gordo, sand and disease. 2d. An
impossibility (almost) of establishing any intermediate post, say
at the Xational Bridge, or any other point, on account of disease,
and the want of sufficient supplies within easy reach. 3d. The
danger of having our trains cut and destroyed by the exasper
ated rancheros. And 4th. The consequent necessity of escorting
trains. " The yellow fever at Yera Cruz, and on the road fifty miles
this way (.lalapa), may soon cut us off from our depot. Deep
sand, disease, and bands of guerillas constitute difficulties.
" Within the distance of fifty railes frora Yera Cruz I doubt
whether I can hazard a depot or garrison (from fear of the fever)."
In a letter to Lieutenant Semmes, of the navy.
General Scott wrote from Jalapa :
* We arrived in August.

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 311
" Tbe diOiculty of sending forward a flag of truce at tbis tirae
with coramunications to the Mexican government, if there be a
competent government anywhere, consists in the necessity of
protecting the flag by a large escort against rancheros or banditti,
who infest the road all the way to the capital, and who rob and
murder even wounded Mexican officers returning on parole to
their friends."
On the 1st of Septeraber, 1847, Secretary Marcy
Avrote to General Scott :
" The last communication received from you bere is dated at
Puebia, on the 4th of June. No doubt is entertained that the
difficulties of communication with Yera Cruz have produced this
long interruption in your correspondence with the departraent."
And on the 6th of October, 1847, the Secretary of
War Avrote to General Scott :
" The guerilla system which has been resorted to by the
Mexicans is hardly recognized as a legitiraate raode of warfare,
and should be raet with the utmost allowable severity. Not only
those embodied for the purpose of carrying out that system, but
those who at any time have been engaged iu it, or who have
sustained, sheltered, and protected them, are much less entitled
to favorable consideration than the soldiers in the ranks of the
regular Mexican army. They should be seized or held as pris
oners of war, and sent to the United States if it is not convenient
to hold them. Their haunts and places of rendezvous should
be broken up and destroyed. Those iraplicated in the murder of
non-combatants, or in robbery and plunder, should be subjected
to a severer treatment."
The nature of the country in this Tierra Caliente
greatly favored the guerilla system ; for railes from
the Gulf coast the road Avas over deep sands, through
sand-hills and chaparral, and our raen raarched
sloAvly, distressed by the intense heat Avhich pre
vailed. The Antigua River, finding its sources in the

312 MEMOIRS OF A
Cordilleras, Avhich fringe the western border of the
State of Vera Cruz, runs nearly an eastern course to
the Gulf of Mexico, emptying into the latter about
forty miles north of the city of Vera Cruz, at the old
town of Antigua, founded by the companions of
Cortez. Stretching out on either bank for some dozen
miles, there is a district of strictly tropical vegetation,
a dense jungle of nearly impenetrable forest foliage.
The river and the noble stone bridge which spans it,
Avith the surrounding heights, was a formidable mili
tary position ; the jungle was a sure refuge in danger,
and a still better lurking place from which to emerge
for sudden attack. Thoroughly acquainted with all
the by-ways among the sand-hills and the trails
through the Avilderness of cane and vine and cacti of
the jungle, they would pounce upon our troops, dis
charge an unexpected volley of balls in their midst,
and if successful in producing a stampede, would
plunder and set fire to the wagon or mule-train of
supplies. If unsuccessful in their first assault, they
generally withdrew, being lost to view in a few min
utes, and their vicinity only known by the dropping
shots into our ranks, fired from a distance, but suffi
cient to harass and annoy the weary men toiling
through the burning sands. Their chief haunts were
at El Paso de Ovejas and the National Bridge, where
they were in considerable force under three of their
famous leaders, Chico (or little) Mendoza, Zenobio,
and the Priest Padre Jarauta. It was these bands
that attacked us, and that we drove from the occu
pancy of their strongholds.

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 31 3

CHAPTER XXIX.
views of our government as TO THE CONDUCT OF
THE WAR.
Up to the 6th day of October, 1847, the War De
partment was not in receipt of any later dispatches
from General Scott than those dated at Puebia, June
4th. At this date, October 6th, however, the gov
ernraent had learned of the operations at Contreras
and of the success of our arms in the battle at that
place. It is interesting to know the vicAvs of the
administration at this epoch, and we have the Avhole
history in two letters from the War Department at
Washington; the one dated September 1, 1847,
Avritten by the Honorable John Y. Mason, acting
Secretary of War, the other dated October 6, 1847,
and written by the Secretary hiraself Both of these
gentlemen were very able men, and this consideration
gives additional weight to the fact that they were the
accredited organs of our governraent and supposed to
speak its vicAvs.
They were both addressed to General Scott, and the
first is as follows : "War Department, September 1, 1847.
" Sir, — In the temporary absence of the Secretary of War,
caused by sickness, the President has requested rae to take
charge of this department.
" From information which has reached us, it is supposed that
you commenced your forward movement on the city of Mexico

314 MEMOIRS OF A
on the 7th (of June), and it is confidently believed that you are
now in possession of the enemy's capital.*
" The obstinate persistence of the Mexicans to treat, their
utter disregard to the rules of civilized warfare, and the large
expenditures we are compelled to make, have impressed on the
President the firm conviction that those rights of exacting con
tribution from the eneray which are conferred on a belligerent
by the acknowledged law of nations should be exercised. Your
reraarks in your dispatch, dated at Jalapa, May 20, 1847, have
been carefully observed. Your circurastances are since materially
changed ; and if, jas Ave doubt not, you have triumphantly en
tered the city of Mexico, the President directs me again to call
your attention to the dispatch of the 3d of April last, a copy of
which is here inclosed.
"The property-holders of Mexico have no claim to find in the
market afforded by sales to our army an actual pecuniary benefit
resulting from the war. They raust be raade to feel its evils ;
and it is earnestly hoped and expected tbat you will not find, in
your present circumstances, a necessity to adhere to your opinion,
that a resort to forced contributions will exasperate and ruin the
inhabitants and starve the army. Contributions may be exacted
from cities or states or wealthy individuals, and payment made
for provisions and other supplies brought to the camp or col
lected in kind. It is not improbable that men of wealth and
means may profess to belong mainly to the peace party ; and
it may be apprehended that they will be driven from their
pacific position by coercive proceedings. But, however such an
effect raay be apprehended, it is more probable that their exer
tions to proraote a terraination of the war will be made more
serious and efiicient when they feel the oppressive evils of the
state of war. Judging from the cruelties and atrocities which
are reported in different parts of Mexico to have been inflicted
by the Mexicans whenever an opportunity presents itself on a
single soldier or a weaker party, there is no hope of their recip
rocating kind, generous, or humane exercise of the rights of war
'¦' This was far from the fact, and I am inclined to think that
Mr. Mason only hoped so.

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 315
on our part; and, Avithout retaliating such disgraceful atrocities
in kind, every dictate of duty to ourselves requires that we shall
not abstain from the exercise of our right of exaction from the
enemy. " The mode of exercising this right is, and must be, left to your
discretion ; but it is earnestly hoped that you will put the system
into operation to the utmost practicable extent. Tbe safety and
subsistence of the troops under your coraraand will, of course,
not be placed in jeopardy by the desire to enforce this system if
you find tbat in its exercise such a result will follow.
"Yery respectfully, your obedient servant,
" JoH>- Y. Mason,
" Acting Secretary of War."
Mr. Marcy's letter is as follows :
" War Department,
¦ Washington, October 6, 1847.
" Sir,—
-K ^ ^ >T< ^ ;|= :-i
" Accounts upon which reliance is placed have recently reached
us that the negotiations for peace bave terminated unsuccessfully,
and that hostilities recommenced on the Sth or 9th ultimo (Sep
tember). We have also the gratifying intelligence that you have
succeeded in capturing the city of Mexico, and are waiting with
deep anxiety for the particulars of your operations up to and
including that important event.
" The terms insisted on by Mexico, on which only she will
consent to conclude a peace (which also have been received
bere), are so extravagant and inadmissible that there is no alter
native left butlo prosecute the war.
" It is quite evident that tbe authorities of Mexico would not
present and insist upon, as a basis for peace, terms which could
not be entertained for a moraent by us without national dishonor,
were they not encouraged to continue the war by that portion of
tbe population as well as others upon which the burdens of the
war ought to fall, and upon which, in the further prosecution of
it, tbey must be made to fall as the only means now left of bring
ing it to a close. We have hitherto been far more forbearing

316 MEMOIRS OF A
than is customary in exercising the extreme and even some of
the ordinary jights of belligerents. It is now evident that our
leniency has not been appreciated nor reciprocated, but, on the
contrary, has been repaid with bad faith and barbarity, and it is
only met by a blind obstinacy and a reckless determination to
prolong the conflict.
" However unwilling we maybe to modify our humane policy,
a change now seems to be required even by the considerations
of humanity. We mast take the best measures within the
clearly-admitted course of civilized warfare, to beget a disposi
tion in the people of Mexico to come to an adjustment upon fair
and honorable terms. It should be borne in mind that the people
of Mexico, indulging, as it is evident they do, the most hostile
feelings, are not less parties to the war than the Mexican army ;
and as a means of peace they must be raade to feel its evils.
" The guerilla system which has been resorted to is hardly
recognized as a legitimate mode of warfare, and should be raet
with the utraost allowable severity. Not only those erabodied
for the purpose of carrying out that system, but those who at
any tirae have been engaged in it, or who have sustained, shel
tered, and protected them, are much less entitled to favorable
consideration than tbe soldiers in the ranks of the regular Mexi
can army. They should be seized and held as prisoners of war,
and sent to the United States if it is not convenient to hold
them. Their haunts and places of rendezvous should be broken
up and destroyed. Those implicated in the murder of non-
combatants, or in robbery and plunder, should be subjected to a
severer treatment. Independent of restraints, etc., upon their
persons, all their property and effects within our reach should
be unhesitatingly seized and devoted to public use. In relation
to other prisoners and officers I refer you to my dispatch of
May 31st.
" Permit me to invite your attention to the dispatch from this
department of the 1st ultimo (a copy of which is herewith sent),
and urge the suggestions therein contained upon your particular
consideration. The burden of sustaining our forces in Mexico
must be thrown, to the utmost extent, upon the people of that
country ; its resources should be resorted to in every manner

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 317
consistent with the usages of civilized war for that purpose, and
it is hoped that your situation is such as will warrant you in
making this resort, at least to the extent required for the sup
port of our array. The raen of means who have willingly con
tributed aid to support the Mexican army should be forced to
contribute to the support of ours.
Without a particular knowledge of your situation, of the
available force you now have at your command, or of the resist
ance the eneray are still capable of making, nothing more than
suggestions, in regard to your future proceedings, will be sub
mitted for your consideration.
" I need not urge upon you the adoption of all measures
necessary for holding the city of Mexico and the principal places
between that city and Yera Cruz. To open and keep open the
way between these two cities would seem to be required for
holding securely what is already conquered and for future opera
tions. For tbis purpose a considerable increase of your force,
it is presumed, will be indispensable 
 " With this augmentation of strength, it is
hoped that you will be able to accomplish not only the objects
before indicated (should you deem thera preferable to others), but
to carry on further aggressive operations, to achieve new con
quests, to disperse tbe remaining army of the enemy in your
vicinity, and prevent the organization of another. Left, as you
are, to your own judgment as to your railitary operations, the
fullest confidence is entertained that you will conduct them in
the most effective way to bring about the main and ultimate
object of the war, namely, to induce the rulers and people of
Mexico to desire and consent to such terms of peace as we have
a right to ask and expect.
" Should they offer through you terms of accommodation, or
propose to enter on negotiations, the President directs that such
propositions be forwarded without delay to him ; but it is not
expected that your movements or measures for carrying on
hostilities will be thereby relaxed, or in anywise changed.
" I have the honor to be, veiy respectfully, your obedient ser
vant, " W. L. Marct, Secretary of War.
"Major-General Winfield Scott,
" Commanding United States Army, Mexico."

318 31EM0IRS OF A

CHAPTER XXX.
OPERATIONS AT AND ABOUT THE NATIONAL BRIDGE.
We Avere in full occupancy of the pass, but our
active foe gave us little rest; by day and by night
the report of firearms Avas heard, accompanied by the
ringing of metal through the air, and we Avere not less
active. In fact, there Avas a busy tirae about the
National Bridge, and the kind of warfare waged on
both sides Avas entirely opposite to all my feelings.
This Avas uncongenial work to rae. The system
inaugurated against us was the apology for our
course ; but it never met Avitli the approval of my
judgment, and at the earliest opportunity I made
knoAvn my sentiments Avith regard to it. But I am
anticipating. To return to my journal.
September 13, 1847. We Avere under arms all last
night, hearing, at intervals, heavy firing, Avhich ap
peared not far from us, and not knowing Avhich Avay
to move, as Ave could not locate the whereabouts of
the contest, the windings of the riA'er and nature of
the country carrying sound in varied reverberating
echoes. We had to wait until we kncAV where to strike.
At 10 A.M. to-day a train of thirty wagons arrived,
escorted by about five hundred recruits, under Cap
tain Heintzelman, Second Infantry, United States
Army. He had been attacked where we had been.

31 A RYLAND VOLUNTEER. 31 9
at El Paso de OA^ejas, and, less fortunate than we,
had lost one man killed and one wounded. This
was the firing Avhich Ave had heard. He had had a
lively time on his way up. As his harassed troops
thrcAv thetn.selves on the ground in front of our quar
ters, a musket Avas accidentally discharged, and two
of the men severely Avounded. I was struck with the
absolute indifference Avith Avhich this raishap Avas
treated by the corarades of the wounded men. About
sundoAvn an odd-looking vehicle — an antique family
carriage — hoA'e in sight, draAvn by any number of
mules. It contained the faraily of the Seiior Don
Antonio de Maria Carapos, Avhich had the requisite
permission to leave the country. We gave up to
the ladies tAvo of our rooms and made rauch of the
children. September 14. Senor Carapos and family left this
morning. One of our corapanies scouting to-day lost
one man by droAvning in crossing the Antigua River,
and Lieutenant Thora, of the Eleventh Infantry, Avas
wounded. The priest of the neighboring country carae
into carap, waving a Avhite handkerchief I admitted
him, and learned from him his business, which was to
procure the release of one of our prisoners.
September 16. A great many of our men are sick,
and the duty upon all of us Avho are Avell is very heavy.
We don't knoAv Avhat rest is. To-day Colonel Hughes
issued an order turning over the comraand to rae, as
he Avas too sick to continue on duty ; the heat and
over-exertion had broken him doAvn. Lieutenant
NeAvby, of the Second Regiment of Illinois Volun
teers, died at 9 o'clock p.m., frora the yellow fever con-

320 MEMOIRS OF A
tracted at Vera Cruz ; it was a case which, when once
seen, would leave no doubt of what was meant by the
black vomit.
September 17. I issued the following order :
"Headquarters U. S. Troops,
" PuENTE Nacional, September 17, 1847.
" Orders.]
" I. It becomes the painful duty of the commanding officer to
announce the death of Lieutenant H. B. Newby, of the Second
Regiment Illinois Volunteers, who died last night of vomito con
tracted at Vera Cruz. The deceased, though separated from his
brother officers and friends, had every attention and medical aid
furnished him which this post could supply, and by none will
his death be raore regretted than by his brother volunteer officers
from the District of Columbia and State of Maryland.
" II. Captain Lawrence Dolan, of Company C, District of Col
umbia and Maryland Regiment of Yolunteers, is hereby detailed
to take charge of the funeral escort, and to cause to be paid to
the reraains of the deceased the usual military honors.
" By comraand John R. Kenly, Major
" D. C. and M'd. Regt. Oomd'g.
"James Steele, First Lieut, and Adj't."
His remains were interred in the north-east corner
of the court-yard of Santa Anna's hacienda.
September 22. A train got through and reached
us this morning, escorted by some sixteen hundred
men under Brigadier-General Lane. It was attacked
at El Paso de Ovejas, and, among others. Lieutenant
Klein of the Louisiana mounted men was killed. His
body was brought to my post and excited great inter
est; there was an unmistakable smile on his pallid
countenance ; there Avas something of fascination
about it, so much so that you felt indisposed to leave
the body. He was a large man, and had been shot

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 321
through the head, the ball raaking but a small orifice
in the forehead where he was hit ; and his features
were as regular, and his expression as pleasant, as if
he were dreaming of home and of those whom he
loved. Groups continued around the corpse until it was
enveloped in a blanket and buried in the earth. He
Avas buried by a detail from General Lane's command.
September 25. Before leaving. General Lane re-
vicAved all the troops now concentrated at this point;
the heat was blistering, and ill-health and ill-humor
sat upon the countenances of many. In the evening
iraraense flocks of parrots flcAv over our carap, going
in a north-westerly direction. They invariably fly in
pairs ; araong the tens of thousands that went screech
ing and palavering in the air each pair Avas notice
able ; if there were an odd one, a bachelor or a spin
ster, it might be distinguished on the flanks of the
raain body of couples. After night-fall, the perfume
of the v^anilla is very observable in the miasma which
rises like a fog from the rank vegetation. This fog
is dense, humid, and unpleasant to all one's sensibili
ties ; you feel that there is poison in its vapors ; our
sick list shows its poAver, and the mounds of upturned
earth, its effects upon the troops. I would single out
this place for its unhealthfulness, as the most to be
dreaded, not excepting Chagres, on the Isthmus, in
North Araerica.
September 27. An express reached us to-night from
above, bringing the extraordinary intelligence that
General Santa Anna was in the vicinity of Puebia,
the garrison of which had been driven into the cita
del by the inhabitants, and that a general stampede
21

322 ME3I0IRS OF A
existed among the American troops. We had noticed
during the day that the firing had been more continu
ous than usual, and I had held back the scouting par
ties. Colonel Hughes Avas again in command, and at
the urgent request of General Lane he sent to his
assistance the commands of Major Taliaferro, McCoy,
and Captain Simmonds,'^ which left us in the midst
of all this excitement Avith but four companies of our
regiment to hold the bridge, and but two companies
occupying the fort on the heights. This was a very
anxious night ; I can safely say no one slept, and
from the Colonel commanding to the cooks, the con
dition of affairs above and below Avas the sole subject
of conversation.September 28. An Araerican and a young Mexican
officer arrived to-day frora above (Jalapa), bringing a
confirmation of the report that Santa Anna was at
Puebia, and the, to us, astounding intelligence, that
General Scott had fought another bloody battle and
had entered the city of Mexico. The reader will bear
in raind that this Avas the first intimation we had
that Scott was in the eneray's capital. But what was
Santa Anna doing at Puebia ? The solution of this
question at this tirae Avas beyond ray military genius,
and I gave it up in despair, only after worrying myself
nearly sick in the efforts I made to understand it.
September 29. If you ever saw a beehive over
turned, an uncommon degree of activity moves the
busy bee; imagine a half dozen hives rudely upset,
* McCoy and Simraonds had been left by General Lane to
strengthen the post at the Xational Bridge.

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 323
and instead of bees, guerillas Avere the occupants ;
then you can picture the buzz that Avas now about
our post frora the SAvarras of exasperated Mexicans,
Avho, maddened by the loss of their capital, threw
themselves on the line of Scott's coraraunications.
Whilst at breakfast this raorning, a bullet passed over
our table and buried itself in the Avail: it Avas not
safe to A^enture frora shelter, and serious apprehen
sions existed that we w^ould be unable to get Avater
Avithout the sacrifice of life, as our only supply Avas
frora the Antigua River in rear of the hacienda. A
system of signals Avas devised to coraraunicate Avith
the fort, and during the day I got up the six-pound
cannon to the top of the building in which we Avere
quartered, and planted the tAveh'e-pound howitzer in
the piazza which ran around it. We concentrated
our force in and around the building, grenelled the
Avails, and if Ave could only get Avater and rations we
Avere going to hold on for some time, at least.
A little before this time, there had reached us frora
Vera Cruz two young officers of the army, endeavor
ing to join their regiments Avith General Scott. Not
being able to go farther, they joined our comraand
temporarily ; their names were Lieutenants Ambrose
E. Burnside and John Gibbon.* These gentlemen were
ot material assistance to us, cheerfully laboring to in-
>truct and drill the troops, and upon all occasions
showing such zeal and alacrity in the performance of
duty, as to inspire in our ofiicers a noble emulation.

* Major-Generals, both of thera, in the war for the main
tenance of the Union.

324 MEMOIRS OF A
to equal the example which the Military Academy
at West Point had thus placed as frontlets before
their eyes.
October 1. The courier of the British Legation,
Captain John Bernand, an old cavalry officer of the
Peninsular army, who rides post between the capital
and Vera Cruz, for his legation, came in last evening
from above, and although very careful in Avhat he
said, told me he had seen Santa Anna at Puebia ; that
Scott's army was in the city of Mexico, and the Avhole
country in his rear swarming with armed Mexicans,
Avho had escaped the defeat of their armies in the
valley. We are still fortifying this building, raising the
parapets on the roof with bags filled with sand, and
strengthening the palisade fence Avhich surrounds the
hacienda Avith chevaux de frise ; it is the opinion of
the prisoners that we will soon be attacked in force
and driven out or captured. Yeremos.
We may be starved out, for we are now living upon
ship-biscuit (hard-tack) and beans, this is all we have
of any kind of food ; it is healthy, if not savory. The
news we have heard, and the rumors on the lips of
all, are meat and drink-^; and the very uncertainty
Avhich prevails as to each and everything, — whether
this be true, or that but a rumor, — keeps us on the qid
vive and out of the hospital.
They say that Colonel Childs is having a rough
time in Puebia, and as soon as he is routed our turn
Avill come ; that Scott hemmed in at Mexico is in
worse plight than if he had been repulsed in his
attack ; and that the loss of the national capital has

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 325
united all classes and factions to a prolonged war of
resistance.* October 8. There is no further intelligence from
above ; the guerillas have been quiet for the past
fcAv days, rumor saying that they are being concen
trated on the Orizaba Road. We are in the raost
intense anxiety to hear from Puebia and the fate of
General Lane's column, which moved to the support
of Colonel Childs, beleaguered at that city. We have
abandoned all ideas of peace unless it be raade by our
Congress. We can get no particulars of the last bat
tles at the city of Mexico, nor of Avhat is transpiring
there or elsewhere ; rumors reach us that Tilgh-
man's battery is en route from Baltimore to join us.
Would that it were here !
October 12. A Frenchman arrived to-night at our
post frora the city of Mexico. He says that General
Scott's force in the city is considered in a precarious
situation, being reduced by his losses in the late bat
tles to six thousand effective men ; that the Mexican
Congress will disband ; that he saw Santa Anna at
Puebia, but he was without artillery and his troops
dissipated ; that General Lane had arrived and our
people had now no apprehensions ; that the whole
country was in a dreadful condition, and that Jalapa
had been entered by robbers and guerillas who plun
dered all those said to be friendly to the Americans,
many of the same unfortunates having been hereto
fore punished by our troops for furnishing the guerillas
* These were the rumors current at the time, and serve to
illustrate the actual condition of affairs.

326 31EM0IRS OF A
with supplies and munitions of Avar ; and finally that
anarchy reigned supreme in the capital, there being
not even the semblance of a governraent anywhere.
I really felt sorry for the poor Mexicans ; their condi
tion is deplorable.
October 16. Scouting to-day, my horse fell, and I
Avith him, into a pit which looked to me like the cellar
of one of our city houses ;* neither of us Avere much
hurt, but it required a good deal of labor to get us up
again. The heat in this chaparral I lack language to
describe; it radiated from the sands and danced about
in front of you, impalpable but visible, like hideous
phantoms of a diseased brain. We Avere glad enough
to get again under the shelter of our hacienda Avhen
night brought to a close the labors of the day.
October 29. The English minister, Mr. Bankhead,
arriA^ed to-night en route to erabark at Vera Cruz for
horae; an escort had been furnished him in Jalapa
by the Mexicans, as they Avere in full possession of
that city ; and as the cavalcade approached I had
directed, in obedience to orders from Colonel Hughes,
that a salute should be fired. Whether by accident
or design (I judge the latter), the non-commissioned
officer in charge of the squad had trained the gunf on
the crest of the ridge over which the road dipped as
it descended to the bridge. As soon as the cortege
* I read, after I had returned home, in Mr. Brantz Mayer's
interesting book, that there were ruins of au ancient Aztec tem
ple within a couple of leagues of the Xational Bridge, and I had
no doubt that it was these ruins I had fallen among ; how I
regretted I was ignorant of this when at the Bridge I
f It was the gun which was mounted on the top of the hacienda.

31A RYLAND VOLUNTEER. 327
appeared the gun Avas discharged, and that was the
last of the escort ; AA^e had no very good narae before
this, but from one end of the Tierra Caliente to the
other it Avas soon known that Ave had not hesitated
to fire on the British flag. It was a very ludicrous
affiiir, and no one enjoyed it raore than Mr. Bankhead.
He Avas accorapanied by a considerable nuraber of
Mexican families Avho Avere fleeing frora the country
under the shelter of his official protection. Under
instructions. Colonel Hughes provided him with an
escort to the coast ; Captains Fairchild and Biscoe, Avith
their respective companies of Louisiana mounted men,
doing that duty to the satisfaction of the minister. I
Avill mention here, and liaA'^e no reason to doubt the
truth of the story, for I heard it from one of the
party, that Avhilst at Jalapa, after his escort had been
provided, the rainister had to pay Aa'C hundred dollars
to the chief of one of the guerilla bands for permission
to reach our post through his district. I Avas glad to
learn from Mr. Bankhead that our side Avhich had
been unavoidably left at .lalapa had not been ill-
treated by the guerillas, being only compelled to give
their paroles not to serve again during the Avar or until
duly exchanged.
It will be borne in raind that Ave Avere literally in
a state of siege ; it Avas only Avhen the siege Avas
raised by the arrival of a body of troops sufficiently
strong to fight its Avay successfully through, or the
departure and return of our own mounted raen, that
AA'e had communication with the outside Avorld. We
Avere surrounded by the guerillas, Avho gave us but
little quiet, yet Avhose desultory firing annoyed Avith-

328 MEMOIRS OF A
out doing us much harm ; they were in sufiicient
numbers to render it necessary to organize a consider
able force at Vera Cruz before marching into the inte
rior, and to keep us on the alert to hold the bridge.
This we had done successfully for nearly two months,
and had swept the country from the Cerro Gordo
Pass to the San Juan River, north and south of the
main road. A period Avas approaching, when Ave
Avere to be relieved from the unpleasant and danger
ous field of duty in which I had been so unwillingly
compelled to act, and no wearied sentry ever hailed
the approach of a relief Avith raore pleasure, than I
did the prospect of leaving this post.

CHAPTER XXXL
NEGOTIATIONS WITH EL PADRE JARAUTA.
Our sentries and outlying pickets were instructed
to recognize the holding up or waving anything white
as a token of peace, and under proper precautions to
suffer the party to approach our lines for intercourse.
Scarcely a day passed in which women were not per
mitted to come into camp to visit the prisoners, under
the Avhite flag, and I can say positively, that I never
kncAV or never heard of a woraan being treated rudely
or unkindly by us, who came in under this flag.
On the 3d of November a woman was brought to
our headquarters who had come into camp in this
way : she said that what she had to say was important

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 329
and confidential. She told us that the guerillas were
tired of the war, and wanted to know if two of them
were to approach our lines under a flag of truce, would
we receive thera and permit them to return "free
and u,nharmed."
My relations with Colonel Hughes were intimate
and friendly from first to last; Ave were alone with
the woman Avhen I interpreted the substance of what
she had said, and we both saw at once the importance
of this overture, and the probable consequences which
might fiow from it. Our intimacy was such, and we
shared each other's confidence so fully, that a few
words between us sufficed to determine our plan.
We answered that she might assure any two un
armed Mexicans that they could enter our lines in
the daytime, and depart when it pleased them, with
the usual reservation not to comraunicate anything
which raight prove prejudicial to us ; that we would
send an ofiicer with her to receive the flag at our
picket-post, and escort the bearers to headquarters.
In the course of the afternoon of the sarae day,
the flag carae in, and with it two officers of Jarauta's
band. They were both white men, well-looking, and
well appareled in the uniform of Mexican officers of
the line. One of them I think was a Frenchraan, as
it was in the French tongue we coraraunicated, this
language being more easy for me to speak than the
Spanish. They told us that the guerillas were tired
of the war, as there appeared to be no national resist
ance to our arms ; that they had been fighting us for
months Avithout any result, and they could see none
as long as we could continue to send additional

330 31EM0IRS OF A
troops into the field ; that the country was being de
vastated to no purpose, and that the capital having
fallen, they could find nothing to encourage them in
the future. They told us that they belonged to
Jarauta's band, and named the chiefs of other bands
with whora they federated for general purposes, but
Avith Avhora they were not very closely allied, and
they could not, nor Avere they authorized to say what
raight be their action hereafter; but they believed
that if Ave could agree upon terms Avith the padre,
that his voice Avould control their future course.
Colonel Hughes told thera the terms upon Avhich we
Avould receive their submission, and as the officer said
that the padre only understood Spanish, I sat down
and framed the following communication, Avhich I now
copy frora the original sent to Jarauta.
As I had no grammar Avith me, the Spanish scholar
raust not criticise it too closely.
"El Senor Jarauta habiendo enviado una proposicion a saber
sobre cuales terminos se le recibiria; este es para garantizar la
seguridad completa de su persona y la de sus oficiales y solda-
dos y sus propriedades. con la condicion que se rinden sujetos a
la disposicion del General Scott.
"En cualquiera evento, sus vidas y propriedades del seiior
Jarauta, los de sus oficiales y sus soldados estaran soleranamente
respetados. " PuENTE Nacional, 3d November 1847."
These terms Avere, that if Jarauta would surren
der, together with his officers and men, they Avould
be guaranteed the complete security of person and
property, subject, however, to the orders of General
Scott, as Hughes had no orders or instructions to

31 A RYLAND VOLUNTEER. 33 1
raake terms with the guerillas, but neither of us had
the shadoAv of a doubt but that our action Avould be
approved. For greater security, however, to those
Avho might surrender under this pledge, I added the
concluding paragraph, "That under any contingency
(should they surrender) their lives and their property
should be solemnly respected."
After the delivery of this paper, which they a.s-
sured us Avould be accepted by the padre, and, with a
smile, they said by many others, Ave parted in the best
of humors, and full of hopes.
Our arrangement was, that at 3 o'clock the next
afternoon, the 4th instant, Ave Avere to get an ansAver
at the same picket where we had received their flag.
November 4. During the morning, we learned that
a column of troops Avas approaching frora Vera Cruz,
and might be expected at any moment. Here Avas a
dilemma ; for the Avar might recommence along the
entire line at any moraent ; and our honor Avas in-
A'oh-ed in the pledge given to Jarauta, which he might
accept, and coming in under it, might — and it was quite
possible — be attacked by our troops, ignorant of the
terms granted. We felt very awkAvard and uneasy all
the morning ; at 3 p.m. our officer was at the picket,
and punctually came the same Mexican officers ;
again conducted to our quarters, they brought us the
gratifying intelligence that Padre Jarauta had agreed
to and accepted our terras, and that he Avas at that
moment but a short distance outside of our lines, aAvait-
ing their return to come in person into our camp.
It may be, and the chances are many against its
probability, that no one Avill ever read these lines Avho

332 MEMOIRS OF A
is acquainted with the facts I have narrated and ara
about to write, yet I cannot resist the sense of right
and justice which drives me nolens volens to speak.
We were in the full height of mutual congratula
tions, at the end of the guerilla war, — for this, if it
had been consummated, would have ended it at least
upon our line, — when an orderly announced the ar
rival of the commanding officer of the troops en route.
Colonel Hughes hurried to meet him at the gate of
the hacienda, and soon he came into the hall where
our staff was entertaining the Mexican officers.
Hughes was explaining the business to the general
when they entered, and I saw at a glance something
was Avrong.
The first words uttered in reply to my presentation
were, " Tell thera that if I catch Jarauta I will hang
hira to the highest tree in the Tierra Caliente."
These words and this language are yet ringing in my
ears ; there is not a letter, much less a syllable, added
to or taken frora the sentence.
The language needed no interpretation ; but it is a
pleasure to say that those Mexicans left our lines in
safety ; and the warm grasp of the hand, the up
lifted cap, bade a final adieu without the utterance
of a word.
The Thirteenth Regiment of United States Infantry,
Colonel Echols, having been ordered to relieve us, we
left the post on the 5th of November, and marched to
reinforce General Scott.

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 333
CHAPTER XXXIL
NEGOTIATIONS FOR PEACE.
It Avill be borne in mind that at the tirae of our
arrival at Vera Cruz, on the 24th of August, all was
suspense and anxiety about the fate of our army, as
no authentic inforraation had been received from
General Scott for several weeks. It was not until
the night of September 1st that we learned of his
success in the first battle fought in the \'alley of
Mexico, and we must now glance at things past and
present essential to a proper understanding of the
period. Although the battle of Cerro Gordo Avas fought on
the 17th of April, 1847, no battle was fought between
the two armies of American and Mexican troops until
the 19th day of August following, Avhen Scott struck
Santa Anna a powerful blow, at Contreras, in the
valley of Mexico.
To explain this delay in the advance of our army
less than two hundred railes toward the capital in
four months, would be to Avrite a very interesting
history, and it would be as difficult to Avrite as it
would be interesting to read. There was ill-feeling
between the general-in-chief and the government.
Instructions had been given him to impose a tariff
for revenue, and a schedule of articles of trade to be
admitted at such ports or places as raight be at any
time in his military possession, Avas furnished him.

334 3IEM0IRS OF A
Avith such rates of duty, as well also upon tonnage,
as Avould produce the greatest amount of revenue.
The enforcement of this tariff was not all that was
imposed upon him. He was informed, that it was
expected of hira to exercise all the acknowledged
rights of a belligerent, for the purpose of shifting the
burden off frora ourselves upon the Mexicans.
" The right of an array operating in an enemy's country to
seize supplies, to forage, and to occupy such buildings, private
as well as public, as may be required for quarters, hospitals,
storehouses, and other military purposes, without compensation
therefor, cannot be questioned ; and it is e.xpected that you will
not forego the exercise of this right to any extent compatible
with the interest of the service upon which you are engaged.'"''
The general Avas sadly in Avant of money for present
purposes, yet these imposed military contributions
Avere foreign to his nature, habits, and military train
of thought. He openly expressed a desire to be re
lieved frora the command of the array, and on the
20th of May, 1847, wrote as folloAvs to the Secretary
of War :
" If it is expected at Washington, as is now apprehended, that
this array is to support itself by forced contributions levied upon
tbe country, we may ruin and exasperate the inhabitants and
starve ourselves ; for it is certain they would sooner remove or
destroy the products of their farms than allow them to fall into
our hands without compensation. Not a ration for man or horse
would be brought in except by the bayonet, wbich would oblige
the troops to spread themselves out many leagues to the right
and left in search of subsistence and to stop all military opera
tions." * Secretary of War to General Scott. Ex. Doo. No. 1, Senate,
1st Session, Thirtieth Congress.

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 335
These vieAvs of this eminent and distinguished
soldier are worthy the deepest consideration of all
Avho Avould make the profession of a soldier subor
dinate to the duty of a citizen, and the honor of
raankind. In point of fact, supplies for raen and aniraals were
bought in the country and paid for at fair prices, frora
the comraenceraent to the end of the war, as far as
my knoAvledge extends, both on the line of the Rio
Grande and on Scott's line. The only revenue de
rived from the country Avas from duties collected
under the tariff above referred to, at the ports in our
possession from Avhich the naval blockade had been
raised. There Avere some buildings occupied as quarters and
as depots for supplies, and sorae churches and other
edifices used for hospitals and public purposes, Avithout
corapensation ; but from the barley groAAang in the
fields, gathered by our raen, to the corn husked by
the soldiers for daily food to theraselves and aniraals,
all Avas paid for in hard dollars; and I have seen sugar
taken from manufactories within our line of sentries,
paid for by the commissaries of our army in coin
brought from the United States.
Surely the history of the world cannot produce a
parallel to this conduct, which was owing in a great
measure — it might be said Avith truth, entirely — to the
thorough American character of Generals Taylor and
Scott, Avhose magnanimity and nobility of sentiment
outweighed the meaner attributes of less exalted
characters, Avhich Avould seek elevation and success
by subserviency to base motives.

336 MEMOIRS OF A
Well, the forced contributions were not levied, and
the general-in-chief was master of the situation, but
there came a blow from Washington Avhich nearly
overthrew his equanimity.
I desire to say here, in all truth, and I think I
have heretofore said it, that from the outbreak of
hostilities to the present time, I fully believe that the
administration of President Polk Avas sincerely de
sirous of making an honorable peace with Mexico, —
such a one as Avould satisfy our just demands, without
compromising the honor or integrity of Mexico.
I repeat it, with as full an understanding of the
matter as observation and personal knowledge can
give one, that the above Avere the vicAvs of the
American government up to the departure of General
Scott from Puebia on the 10th of August, 1847.
The blow referred to was the arrival in Mexico,
Avhile Scott was at Jalapa, in May, of Mr. Nicholas
P. Trist as a commissioner from Washington to ac
company the headquarters of the army, for diplomatic
purposes. His mission was peace, his powers were
well defined and limited, yet all the pride of a soldier
(and if Winfield Scott were not one, history may be
searched in vain) revolted at the presence about his
headquarters of a civilian, whom Scott regarded as
an aide-de-camp of the President of the United States,
sent to degrade him in the eyes of the army and the
authorities of Mexico.
Fortunately for the interests of humanity and the
glory of our country, these gentlemen became recon
ciled, and worked harmoniously for the attainment of
great ends.

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 337
Let US look at the turn of affairs in the interior,
beyond our lines, before Ave take up the negotiations
between American and Mexican officials, to which
we propose to refer.
Santa Anna had lost Buena Vista, yet had nobly
struggled to regain his tarnished military fame :
Cerro Gordo lost, any other than a general bred amid
the internecine strife of Mexico would have been
irretrievably ruined, Avhen the floAver of his array laid
down its arras because taken in reverse and rendered
powerless through sheer negligence of military art.
The pride of the Mexican soldiers of the line had
not been loAvered by Monterey or Buena Vista; but it
could not stand the humiliation of Cerro Gordo. They
had been defeated, when most willing to fight ; they
had grounded their arms, Avith their boxes full of car
tridges, after repulsing one and awaiting another
attack ; there Avas no road for escape, nothing but
surrender before them ; all OAving, as all kncAV, to
the incapacity of their chiefs, — not Santa Anna espe
cially, but some to whom had been confided high
trusts and grave responsibilities.
The courage of Csesar's tenth legion would have
been shattered by three such disasters as the battles
of Monterey, Buena Vista, and Cerro Gordo. Yet the
Mexicans did not abandon their grito of Avar to the
knife ; and their semblance of a Congress — yet still a
respectable assembly of deputies — declared every in
dividual a traitor Avho should make peace with the
United States. Such a resolution Avas passed after the
ncAvs of the loss of the battle at Cerro Gordo had been
received in the city of Mexico. 22

338 3IEM0IRS OF A
General Scott had said that he wanted to make his
army " a self-sustaining raachine," and he depended
for this, not upon forced contributions, but upon the
credit of the United States ; to raise this credit, as
well as his OAvn, there is no doubt but that he Avas as
desirous to make a peace and to conclude a treaty as
he was to win a battle or to fight one when ready.
He Avas always open to propositions, perhaps too much
so, and when arrived at Puebia, in June, there com
raenced the celebrated negotiations Avhich AA-ere also
self-sustaining; for, dig as deep as you may, no founda
tion can be found, no beginning, as there Avas no end
ing, none Avhatever, to those entamees at Puebia to
Avhich I shall uoav refer.
We must knoAV that despite the defiant attitude of
the Congress, Mexico Avas cruelly divided by faction,
and the capital a prey to the fierce and apparently
irreconcilable strife between the Puros and the Mod-
erados. The array proper Avas deraoralized, and a
considerable nuraber of leading and influential men
were opposed to making the city of Mexico the area
Avithin Avhich the further raarch of Scott's array Avas
to be opposed. These men, if not a party, Avere at
least a poAver in the state, and they determined to
try diplomacy to stay, if not to avert, the loss of their
capital. There Avas one raan eminently fitted to em
brace and further their vicAvs, none other than An
tonio Lopez de Santa Anna. The necessity for his
services, for the aid of his powerful and unquestioned
capacity for such business, saved him ; for the elections
havins ii'one ascainst hira, as he learned, he srot Con-
COG ^ ? o
gress to postpone counting the ballots frora the 15th

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 339
of June, Avhen they ought to have done it, until
January, 1848, and this restored him once more to
poAver and to the head of afiairs.
Tn Executive Docuraent No. 60 raay be found the
following, on page 967, dated Puebia, May 19, 1847.
I insert it, as it Avas undoubtedly the general opinion
at its date.
" The elections came ofi' in tbe States on the loth. It is gen-
erallv believed Herrera will succeed. Shots are being fired in
the capital. A pronunciamento is hourly expected, aud this is
probably the secret of Santa Anna's raarch upon that point. He
is in crlremis. All agree tbat his day is passed."
Pas encore.
Mr. Trist Avas anxious to begin negotiations, and
hoped through the channel of the British embassy at
Mexico to open his guns ; a letter from our Secretary
of State, Mr. Buchanan, Avas forAvarded, and there
carae, in reply, a guarded answer which amounted to
just exactly Avhat it Avas intended to amount to, —
nothing. There was nobody to treat Avith, but there
was somebody to do that which no nation that ever ex
isted could surpass the Mexican in doing, loriting letters.
Along Avith the Mexican minister's letter, there
Avere found coraraunications in cipher (key furnished)
frora parties in the city of Mexico, declaring thera
selves to be but agents, not naming hoAvever their
principal, in Avhich extraordinary propositions Avere
contained in reference to making peace betAveen
Mexico and the United States. These propositions
Avere deemed Avorthy the notice of the coraraander-in-
chief, and Avere considered by hira entitled to serious
consideration. A reply Avas sent through the diplo-

340 31EM0IRS OF A
matic pouch of England in Mexico (acting in good
faith I believe to both belligerents), the purport of
which can only be surmised. Now came distinct and
unequivocal terras as a basis of agreement addressed
to the comraander-in-chief and signed by the "agents"
for whom ? — this time it was mysteriously hinted that
none other than Santa Anna Avas the primum mobile
of the cipher correspondence, and Avas himself the
key of the Avhole transaction.
There is no doubt Avhatever of Avhat I am now
about to write : General Scott convened a council of
general officers at Puebia, and to thera was made
knoAvn that there had come from the city of Mexico
propositions looking to making a treaty of peace ;
that for purposes, as yet undeveloped, a million of
dollars ivas asked for: that said sum Avas not in the
military chest, but a project Avas submitted of the
Avays and raeans by Avhich it might be raised; and
finally, that the sum of ten thousand dollars cash in
hand Avas deraanded to bind the bargain.
There Avas difference of opinion in that council :
to the honor of the Araerican narae be it known that
there were gentleraen present Avho protested against
the Avhole scheme, if even the same had come from
the authorities of Mexico or other legitiraate source ;
they protested against all secret machinations, and
especially against the bribery which was indisputably
the aim, if not the acknoAvledged purpose, for Avhich
the money Avas to be used ; they lifted their voices
and proclaimed the Avhole thing anti- American, and
uuAvorthy the consideration of honorable men.
Nevertheless, strange as it may seem, ten thousand

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 341
dollars was paid, cash in hand, to somebody, out of the
fund at the disposal of General Scott.
Notes in cipher now fleAv thickly, and the hum of
secret intrigue, for the first (and may it be the last)
time, Avas heard in the camp of an American arnu'.
The plan Avas someAvhat modified when the ten
thousand dollars in raoney fell upon its platforra ;
Avith a finesse AA^orthy of the policj' which has given
eclat to Florence, queries AA'ere covertly embodied in
other propositions, the plain English of Avhich Avas :
Our palras itch more than ever since the gentle tick
ling you gave thern ; how about the million of dol
lars ? there are deputies in a certain Congress Avhose
motions are sIoav. but AAdiose principles are Avell
knoAvn ; lohen may Ave expect the million of dollars ?
its receipt Avill antedate but a fcAv days a treaty of
peace. Memorandum: Cb»5'ress Avill meet next Aveek.
Still no million of dollars Avas sent, but r. nother
modification of the basis for the purchase of peace
carae frora the " agents ;" it Avas uoav intiraated as
delicately as the faintest penciling, that General
Santa Anna thought it indispensable that Scott should
advance and carry at least one outwork of the capital, to
giA^e color to the terms of surrender, which he, Santa
Anna, Avould then submit.
Will it be believed in this age that such infamy Avas
ev^er written, much less seriously considered ? It Avas
both Avritten and received consideration, but there is
nothing to show that General Scott ever belicA^ed that
Santa Anna Avould give hira an outwork of the city
of Me.xico.
He raay have been deceiA-ed in his hopes and ex-

342 3IE310IRS OF A
pectations ; he may have raistaken, as he undoubtedly
did, the character of Santa Anna; he may have lent
too much of his high official position to these secret
negotiations : but his native integrity was so lofty and
his patriotism so pure, that never for one raoraent did
he do other than Avhat he thought Avas right, and
never ceased an instant in the preparations daily
raade for strengthening his array for future battle.
And this is the reraarkable feature of these nego
tiations, that neither of the high contracting parties
seeraed to have the least idea of each other's character.
This is my opinion : that Scott thought Santa Anna
A'enal, and that it Avould be to the interest of our
country to buy hira ; Santa Anna thought he Avas
deceiving Scott, might get a million of dollars, and
Avas getting and gaining precious time to strengthen
the defenses of his capital, in every cipher transmitted
to Scott's headquarters.
Both Avere deceived ; Santa Anna was ten thousand
dollars ahead, and this payment tended to strengthen
his blindness, for Avhat could he think of a general
Avho had suffered hiraself to be hurabugged out of so
much money? He thought Scott an old fool, — he
Avas rauch raistaken.
Scott Avas outAvitted in diploraacy, he failed to see
through the astute raystification Avhich the Avily
Mexican had placed him in, he utterly ignored the
honesty of Santa Anna and his fidelity to countrj^,
he Avas grossly deceived ; but his instinctive railitary
genius Avas a clue by Avhich he disentangled the
maze of his enemy's subtle intrigue. FolloAving the
path of duty, it led him safely through the mire of

3IARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 343
political machinations to the fields Avhere glory
croAvned his brow Avith undying fame.
Santa Anna never for an instant dreamed of betray
ing his country, much less selling for money the life's
blood of the brave defenders of a post, his old com
panions in arras, to Avhora he had entrusted the iden
tical outwork indicated as the one to be assaulted;
but his cunning overleaped itself, when after receiv
ing the ten thousand dollars, the latter proposition
came from the " agents ;" for there Avere officers in the
Araerican array not as good soldiers as General Scott,
but Avho possessed infinitely more shrcAvdness, and
they openly denounced the base proposition as too ab
surd for serious thought.
It was the monstrous perfidy of this proposition
Avhicli destroyed •' the plan for the purchase of peace,"
and Avas near involving in its destruction the charac
ter of raore than one of those Avho interested them
selves in its success.
Negotiations, open and secret, failed ; the Mexican
Congress, after passing a resolution on the loth of
July, " that it was the duty of the President to make
treaties, and theirs to approA'e or disapprove them,"
quietly dispersed, leaving the responsibility Avith
Santa Anna; he, alleging a constitutional incapacity,
and quite likely remembering the council of the Texan
generals on the banks of the Rio Grande, referred the
question to his generals ; they relieved themselves of
diplomatic functions, by saying, their voice Avas still
for Avar.
Both armies prepared for battle.

344 31E310IRS OF A

CHAPTER XXXIIL
SCOTt'S advance on the city of MEXICO.
On the 10th day of August, 1847, General Scott
left Puebia Avith an army of ten thousand men, to
attack the enemy in the valley of Mexico, and to
conquer a peace. It Avas a daring plan, a daring
march ; for he knew that General Santa Anna had
gathered thirty-five thousand raen to defend their
capital, and that military skill of no ordinary charac
ter had strengthened the natural defenses of the city
and its environs.
On page 175 of vol. ii.. Major R. S. Ripley's War
Avith Mexico, the author says :
" Under these circumstances, the American advance is with
out parallel. In daring and in rashness the march of Cortez over
tbe same route, centuries before, can hardly compare witb it."
The strength of this army lay in its prestige of suc
cess, the genius of its leader, the material of Avhich
it was coraposed, and especially in its undaunted
courage. On the 18th day of August, there fell the first
Araerican soldier in the valley of Mexico. Strange,
that he Avhose raisfortune had been the commence
ment of the Avar should find the first soldier's crrave
thus far beyond the Rio Grande. So it was. Cap-

31A RYLAND VOLUNTEER. 345
tain Thornton, of the Second Dragoons, Avas killed
by a cannon ball as our reconnoitering parties ap
proached San Antonio.
On the 20th of August was fought the battle of
Contreras ; General Valencia Avith his division of seven
thousand raen and twenty-two pieces of artillery had
left the position assigned him, and, contrary to the
adAnce and in the teeth of positive orders frora Santa
Anna, had taken up a position about Contreras. There
Avas an immense field of broken lava lying in front of
his camp and between it and San Antonio, which Avas
deemed impassable for troops, but through and OA'er
which our engineer officers had found several trails
which Avere soon raade practicable for troops. This
field Avas called the Pedregal, and Avas a great natural
obstacle in an advance on the Acapulco road through
San Antonio directly to the southern gate of Mexico.
Valencia must have thought that our army having
turned from the eastern defenses of the city, and find
ing the southern approaches so strongly guarded by
the lines of San Antonio and Churubusco, Avould de
flect still more to the left and approach the city frora
the west ; it being generally known that the fortifica
tions on this west side, the farthest frora the approach
of the Araericans, were of rauch less strength than the
others. A road ran through Contreras frora the south
west to the city, and here he posted his division in an
intrenched carap, without any regard to the disposi
tions of the coramander-in-chief, or, as before said, to
his positive orders.
Valencia was the rival of Santa Anna ; he com
manded a corps d'elite, — the army of the north, had

346 31E310IRS OF A
criticised his line of defen.ses on the east, and, Avhen
Scott Avisely avoided risking heavy losses, by attacking
very strong points, and was uoav feeling his way, as
if from the south, Valencia is said to have exulted
and boasted that noAV his time had corae to chastise
the Yankees.
Santa Anna is a lucky raan, for it Avas the disaster
noAV about to befall his rival which once more saved
his reputation among his felloAv-countrymen ; for to
the Avillful disobedience of Valencia to his orders Avas
attributed, by the Avhole army and population of the
capital, the final and sad terraination of their heroic
sacrifices. Scott had sent General Pillow's division, Avhich was
followed by General Twiggs's, across the Pedregal on
the afternoon of the 19th. These troops, supported
by Magruder's and Callender's batteries, had engaged
the eneray in front without doing hira much damage.
During the night General Persifer F. Smith devised
a plan, Avhich Avas approA^ed by General Scott, for
taking the camp in reverse and dislodging the Mexi
cans. At sunrise, on the morning of the 20th, Col
onel Riley, Avith CadAvalader's and Smith's brigades,
were in the rear of Valencia, and in half an hour were
in the possession of the intrenched carap. The division
of Valencia Avas routed Avith an actual loss of some
seven hundred killed, one thousand prisoners, and
the demoralization of the whole corps, if not of the
entire Mexican army. There AA'ere twenty-tAvo pieces
of artillery, some of heavy calibre, Avithin the work,
all of Avhich Avere secured by our force, Avhich did
not exceed in the aggregate four thousand five hun-

31A RYLAND VOLUNTEER. 347
dred men, and did not lose raore than si.xty raen
killed and Avounded in these successful operations.
Well might General Scott doubt Avhether a more
brilliant or decisive victory be found on record. It
Avas a brilliant feat of arms, and a glorious forerunner
of subsequent grand achievements.
Santa Anna is blamed for not making greater efforts
to support Valencia, and gravely censured for not
compelling hira to AvithdraAv on the night of the 19th,
as his engineer officers had pronounced the position
untenable. I regret very rauch that I have never met Avith
the pamphlet Avhich Avas published by Valencia in
defeiLse of his conduct at Contreras.
E.xhilarated by the success, our A'ictorious troops,
being rapidly brought together, pushed on through
San Angel to Coyacan, Avhich Avas Avell beyond and
to the left of San Antonio, in front of Avhich General
Worth Avas aAvaiting orders for the assault. General
Bravo, in command at San Antonio, had been ordered
to retreat as soon as the fall of the intrenched camp
Avas knoAvn ; his troops, marching toward the capital
by the causeway, and closely followed by Worth's
division, Avere intercejited and cut in two by Clark's
Brigade and Lieutenant-Colonel C. F. Smith's Light
Battalion, Avhich General Worth had sent to turn
Bravo's right by the Pedregal. Another utter rout
here ensued, although General Bravo escaped, with
nurabers of his division, by leaving the causeAvay
and crossing the raarshes to the east of the road.
Our troops pressed on toAvard the city, and soon the
sanguinary battle of Churubusco was begun.

348 31E3IOIRS OF A
The enemy held a very strong position : in front
ran in an easterly course the river Churubusco, and
in the sraall village of the sarae name, a little to the
south of the river and toward the advancing Ameri
cans, Avas a large stone building, called the Convent,
which Avas strongly fortified. The bridge Avhich
crossed the river on the San Antonio causeway Avas
protected by an elaborate fortification or tete du pont,
and in and about these lines and Avorks, the army of
Santa Anna resolutely stood to their guns. But they
Avere in a distressed condition from the disorganiza
tion created by the rout of the Iavo divisions of Va
lencia and Bravo, and, to add to their discouragement,
the artillery and the araraunition train sent forward
by Bravo frora San Antonio had not yet entered the
ti^te du pjont, Avith the exception of three guns, and
AA'ere jararaed up on the cause Avay in ine.xtricable
confusion, Avlien the advance of the Araerican troops
opened fire upon the mass of fugitives and upon the
horses of the artillery trains.
Santa Anna still held the left and centre of his
army intact ; they numbered at least tAventy thousand
men. — outnumbered raore than Iavo to one the array
of Scott, and behind chosen lines he ought to have
repulsed his attack.
The battle soon coraraenced in earnest, our troops
rapidly coraing up, and along the extended front and
about the detached Avorks of the Mexicans a fierce
struggle ensued betAveen nearly the entire strength of
the tAVO armies ; it raged for several hours Avith intense
fury. The desperate courage and skill of the Araeri
cans was never more signally shown, and out of not

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 349
more than eight thousand five hundred men, there
Avere one thousand killed or disabled in this bloody
encounter; but the Mexicans Avere forced to retreat,
after suffering great loss, and our cavalry pursued the
fugitives to the very gates of the capital.
Our troops did justice to the bravery of their foe,
and no language is too strong in admiration of the
gallant army of Araericans that gained the victory at
Churubusco. The estimated loss of the Mexicans in killed,
Avounded, and missing at Churubusco Avas seven thou
sand men ; but the effect of thia disaster in the city of
Mexico cannot be measured by the number lost to the
army. When night fell on this raeraorable day, the
population of the city Avas panic-stricken ; all Avere in
fear of the immediate entrance of the American army.
But General Scott had apparently other views, and
never shoAved more judgment, in my opinion, than
halting, as he did, outside the city on the night of the
20th of August.'^-
I cannot say as much for his conduct on the ensuing
days, Avith reference to the armistice Avhich Avas agreed
upon. When Santa Anna entered the city he assembled,
at midnight, those of the ministry Avhom he could
find and several leading citizens. He told them that
* The city of Mexico contained at this time nearly 200,000
inhabitants; its streets and quarters were entirely unknown to
our army. If the streets were barricaded and the houses de
fended, as at Monterey, our army might have been sacrificed by
the infuriated leperos and soldiers of the beaten array, who could
yet be numbered by thousands.

350 3IEM0IRS OF A
there must be a suspension of arras to enable him to
reorganize his shattered army, that tirae must be
gained, or else the city Avas lost, and that they must
take steps to interview Scott at once for this purpose.
Again the British embassy was looked to as a mediura
of coramunication, and the minister of Spain lent his
friendly offices to aid the beleagured capital.
General Scott on the same night matured his plan,
Avhich Avas to sumraon the city to surrender (and it
Avas now at his raercy), and only to agree to an arrais-
tice upon the pledge that negotiations should be en
tered upon for a treaty of peace.
If he had firmly stood to this plan, it is raore than
probable that raonths of future toil would have been
spared him ; but it is not my purpose to assail him,
or endeavor to meet the poAverful reasons Avhich were
successfully urged against the raaintenance of his
(original deterraination.
The main reason which induced hirn, as I under
stood frora corapetent authority, Avas that, if he pei'-
sisted in either taking the city or driving Santa Anna
aAvay Avith his array, there Avould be no government
to treat Avith, and that nothing Avould be left to be
done but pursue a war of conquest until all Mexico
Avas held by American troops.
An armistice for the suspension of arms and other
purposes Avas agreed upon the 22d, ratified by Scott
on the 23d, and finally ratified by Santa Anna on the
24th of August.
It met Avith but little favor in the American array,
chiefly because it Avas thought that the recoraraenda
tion of Major-General Worth, that the Mexicans

3LA RYLAND VOLUNTEER. 351
should give up to our army the pos.session of the
military castle and hill of Chapultepec as a guaranty
for good faith on their part, should be a sine quce non
in the negotiation for the armistice.
The Mexican commissioners stoutly and successfully
resisted the introduction of this article into the pro
ject, Avhich Avas ratified as above related without this
article. In one of the articles, it was agreed that our army
might obtain supplies frora the city; a train for this
purpose Avas attacked by the leperos, the Avorst class
of the most A'icious of Mexicans Avho SAvarmed in the
alleys and faubourgs of the metropolis, and blood Avas
shed in the streets of Me.xico.
Recrimination folloAA-ed the just complaints of the
American general, and the armistice Avas terminated
on the 6th of September Avith a loss to the Americans
of prestige, character, and rauch of the fruits of hard
won battles.
The negotiations for peace industriously plied
during its continuance had miserably fiiiled, Santa
Anna had recuperated his army, Avhilst that of Scott's
Avas mildeAving aAvay under the raalaria of the valley.
He had noAv but eight thousand five hundred effect
ives of all arras, but he Avas a host in hiraself, and
the consciousness of havdng acted in good faith left
hira the invdncible support of his honor and his con
science. On the 8th Avere delivered the bloody and fruitless
battles of Molino del Rey and the Casa Mata Avith a
loss of one hundred and sixteen killed and six hun
dred and sixty-five Avounded out of our little array ;

352 31E310IRS OF A
a still further demand was to be made upon a resource
Avhich had never yet failed, American pluck, and the
eneray's capital Avas to be stormed.
Worth Avanted to push on, and so did PilloAv, after
our troops had gained with such a loss of life the
mill or foundry (as sorae called it) del Rey, but Scott
held thera back, for he was not yet ready.
The frowning hill of Chapultepec was the key to
the Mexican line of defenses on the south and Avest
of the city. To carry this Avas noAv the immediate
object of the coramander-in-chief. A strong corps
held the hill, and Santa Anna had gathered the
reraainder of his array about the garitas (gates) on
the southern side of the city, posting thera in well-
made field-Avorks designed for the protection of this
front. During the afternoon of the Sth, bold reconnais
sances Avere made under the superintendence of Cap
tain Robert E. Lee, of the Engineers, and that night
General Scott Avas occupied in gaining further informa
tion and raaturing his plan of operations.
On the raorning of the 9th there Avere tAvelve
thousand Mexicans at work throwing up a line of
intrenchments between the garitas Belen and San
Antonio, and they continued at their labors during
the entire day Avithout interruption. As this Avas the
front Scott purposed to attack, he Avas notified of
Avhat Avas being done by the enemy ; but our troops
reraained quiet.
On the 10th the engineer officers again raade recon
naissances; they found eleven pieces of artillery in
position at the garita San Antonio, the other works

31 A R YLA ND VOL UN TE ER . ';] 5 3
strong and occupied in force, the curtains fini.shed and
the ditches full of Avater.
On the llth, continuing their reconnaissances, they
found the Avorks .strengthened and nearly the whole
southern front of the city inundated.
Scott in person exarained the eneray's lines, then
called a nifcting of general officers; there Avere pres
ent PilloAV, (,»uitman, Twiggs, Pierce. CadAvalader,
and Riley. The result of this meeting Avas orders
from General Scott for the attack upon Chapultepec.
On the morning of the 12th of September, the
battle opened against Chapultepec, AA'hilst a demon
stration Avas made .against the lines of San Antonio;
a bombardraent of the castle Avhich crowned the hill,
and a cannonade against the lines, continued during
the day. Night fell Avithout anything decisive being
accomplished; scaling-ladders had been brought up,
l)ut no assault Avas ordered, ;ind the troops were occu
pying the positions they held in the morning. All
night long preparations Avere being made by both
armies for the struggle of the ensuing day ; it Avas a
night of sleeplessness and anxiety to cA^ery human
being in the valley of Mexico, for all kneAv that to
morrow Avould decide the fate of the capital.
At daybreak on the raorning of the loth day of
Septeraber, 1847, the Araerican batteries opened on
the castle of Chapultepec and the lines of San Anto
nio ; the Mexican guns replied, and for several hours
the cannonading Avas very heavy; in the mean time
storming parties Avere being organized and properly
equipped for the assault. Bravo, seeing that it Avas
his post that was threatened, sent for a reiiiforce-
23

354 31 E 310 IRS OF A
ment, Avhich had been promised him ; no attention
Avas paid to his request. He ordered Iaa'o brigade com
manders to bring their troops to his support; tbey
properly refused to move from the positions to Avhich
they had been assigned, Avithout orders from their
commander-in-chief. He had six thousand men
Avithin his lines, and these ought to have been
sufficient for the defense of the castle and its out-
Avorks, but they Avere not. For ouAvard and upAvard
came the gallant heroes of the Republic of the North,
SAveepiiig from their front all Avho dared to oppose, —
leaving behind in their bloody tracks the dead and
the dying, then planting their ladders they scaled the
Avails of the castle. Chapultepec Avas in their posses
sion, and the flag of our Republic Avas floating from
its summit.
One cheer of A^ictory rolled its volurae of sound into
the terror-stricken city, and then ^'- Foncird .'" vras
again the Avord of command.
Worth's command took the road to the San Cosine
garita on the north ; Quitman folloAved the fugitives
from Chapultepec by the aqueduct, Avhicli entered
the city by the Belen garita at the south-Avest angle
of the city. The enemy raade continued resistance
Avith artillery and sraall-arras from behind every
available point betAveen the base of the hill and the
garita; finally Quitman carried this, but found a
strong obstacle in the citadel Avithin the Avails, Avhich
was being rapidly filled Avith troops brought by Santa
Anna from the eastern defenses. During the after
noon, a fierce struggle ensued betAveen the reinforce
ments brought up and the Avearied American soldiers

31ARYLAND VOTJJNTEEll. 3,3,5
Avho Avere in the works at the garita, Avhich they still
continued obstinately to hold against the several at
terapts raade to recapture thera.
Worth had raet with the same resolute resistance,
the same fierce struggle; and, finally, Santa Anna
having checked Quitman's adA'ance beyond the Belen
gate had noAv come up to San Cosine to beat him, if pos
sible ; this he did not do, but eight hundred and sixty-
three killed and AA'ounded of our army, in to-day's
fighting, attested the spirit of the Mexican resistance.
Night fell upon the combatants lying upon their
arms at these two gates of the capital, General Worth
being vnthin the garita San Cosrae and in the city of
2Iexico. At 9 p. At. General Worth thought he Avould shoAv
Avhere he Avas, and directed a mortar, Avhich Avas
planted in front of his quarters, to be fired in the
direction of the main plaza. This completed the
Avork. The city Avas evacuated during the night : the
Mexican generals having determined to give up the
city and AvithdraAV their beaten array before the en
suing daj^ Avhen it raight be too late. They left by
the northern road, carrying Avith thera a considerable
park of artillery.
Early on the raorning of the 14th, the town coun
cil approached Scott's headquarters to raake terras
Avith the conqueror; this tirae there Avas no negotiat-
inff; he told thera that the citA' of Mexico had been
in his poAver since the afternoon of the preceding day,
and that now he Avas going to take it; and he did
take it. On the sarae day General Scott established
his quarters in the Palace (halls of the Montezuraas,

356 31EM0IES OF A
in iiCAvspaper parlancej, the American army Avas
quartered in its vicinity ; hospitals Avere organized,
the leperos thrashed, the inhabitants protected from-
the villains turned loose in their midst, order Avas
restored, life and property made secure, religion
respected, by the array Avhich had marched from the
distant north to plant its victorious banners in the
valley of the Aztecs.
All honor fo Winfield Scott ! ever green be his
laurels, and forcA^er honored may be the companion.s-
in-arras Avho shared the glory of his conquest ! Honor
to the meraory of the dead, avIio fell before victory
Avas Avon ! and honor, ye American citizens, the rank
and file of an army, that sullied not the hour of
triumph Avitii the stain of rapine or lust !
Xo days of ancient Rome ever beheld on its Appian
or Flaminian Ways a nobler host than that Avhich
cru-sed the Cordilleras of Mexico: and the Capitol
never Avitnessed honors more nobly Avon, than those
which this army placed upon the broAvs of Scott.

CHAPTER XXXIV.
CONQUERING A PEACE.
The American army Avas in the city of Mexico,
the capital of the country in the occupancy of the in
vaders ; and that Avhich Scott foresaw, and Avhich
doubtless influenced hira, as I liaA^e before said, to
agree to an armistice, had noAv happened. There v:as
ao government to treed witli. The armistice Avas a mis-

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. of, 7
take ; it had cost the lives of many lirave men, Avas
near losing everything previously gained by Araerican
valor, yet it Avas granted in pursuance of and in
furtherance of the policy of our government, in the
hope it might lead to a treaty.
It looked much like a stalemate uoav. Santa Anna
resigned the Presidency; even he could not meet the
overwhelming indignation of the country at the loss
of its capital, so he said he Avould continue to serA'e
his country in the field.
I belicA^e the executive functions of the governraent
devolved upon the Justices of the Supreme Court ; be
that as it may, Santa Anna sent a corps of three
thousand men to Queretaro, and a decree from some
source made that city the seat of government ; but
there Avas no government there, not even the sem
blance of one ; nor Avas there any gOA^ernmeut aiiy-
Avhere else ; nor was there any army, unless that be
called oue, Avhicli Santa Anna led to throAv upon
Scott's communicatious. I doubt Avhether the Avorld's
historv can shoAv a similar spectacle to that Avhich
Mexico presented at this period. It Avas not only
distressing to its citizens, it Avas most erabarrassing to
its conquerors.
Scott could not press hostile operations eA^en if such
had been his Avish. for up to the last of November no
reinforcements had reached hira. He had levied a
contribution of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars
upon the city, and had issued orders forbidding the
exportation of coin or the precious metals, or the pay
ment of rent for any buildings required as quarters or
storehouses for the army. The troops en route to the

358 31EM0IRS OF A
valley Avere stretched from Vera Cruz to the Rio
Frio. A government was being formed or atterapted
to be forraed at Queretaro by Peiia y Peria, President
of the Suprerae Court, and General Santa Anna, re
lieved from the command of his troops by order of the
latter, signing himself " Provisional President." Gene
ral Paredes, a known and avowed monarchist, had
come into the country, and General Bustaraente re
appeared and issued his pronunciamento. All the
forraer factions and elements of strife, strengthened
instead of diminished by the misfortunes of the coun
try, rallied at Queretaro, to thAvart the good inten
tions and paralyze the efforts of all Avho labored for
the good of Mexico. On the llth of November a
nuraber of deputies, asserabled at Queretaro, elected
General Anaya (Avho had been unconditionally re
leased by Scott) as Provisional President. He raade
Peua y Peiia his Chief Minister ; Seiior Rosa, Secre
tary of State ; General Moray Villarail, Secretary of
War; and appointed General Bustaraente Comraander-
in-Chief of the Array. This adrainistration Avas
regarded at array headquarters as favoring negotia
tions, but it Avas only to last until the 8th of January
ensuing; and Scott, now diploraatic agent, as Mr.
Trist had been recalled, was compelled to rely more
upon his "self-sustaining machine," his arrny, than
upon hopes of a peaceable settlement of existing diffi
culties between the two nations.
On the 27th of Noveraber, 1S47, he Avrote to Mr.
Marcy, our Seci'etiiry of War, a letter dated Head
quarters of the Army, Me.xico, of which the foUoAving
extracts Avill give a correct idea of the then situation :

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 359
"I have now beeu w.aiting with an.xiety, for nearly a raonth,
the arrival of the reinforcenu^nts with Ma.jor-General Patterson,
and others, coraing up from Yera Crnz. That general in an offi
cial report, dated the 10th inst., informs me that he halted, with
some twenty-six hundred men, for duty at Jalapa.
-[: i^. ^ -.i; ^. ^ ^: :iz :!; :^. :;<
" lie had received ray instructions of the 13th and 28th ult.,
directinc: the re-garrisoning of Jalapa with sorae twelve hundred
men, and the establi.~bing of at least two new posts between
tbat city and Yera Cruz.
•¦'r. ;ii Jji ^ :ii ;'^ :K * if: ^ ^
" I am happy to learn that Major-General Butler was hourly
expecteil at ^'era Cruz early in tbis month. On bis or Major-
General Patterson's arrival bere, with four thousand or more
reinforcements, over and above the eastern garrisons, I shall
dispatch that surplus, ur a force equal to it, to occupy tbe mining
districts within — railes of Zacatecas; and should the surplus
be sufficient, I shall also occupy the raining district of San Luis
de Potosi."
¦-:¦¦ f.- * * :•! ;;: :•: S -f :^ :;t
On the 4th of December he again Avrote to Mr.
Marcy, from the city of Mexico :
" The force here and at Chapultepec, ' fit for duty,' is only about
six thousand rank and file ; tbe ' number of sick,' exclusive of
ofiicers, being two thousand and forty-one.
" Xo proposition looking to a peace has been made to me by
the federal government of this Republic, or its commissioners."
On the 2d of December General Scott wrote to
Commodore William B. Shubrick, U. S. Navy, com
manding Pacific Squadron :
" Sir, — I have the honor to receive your letter, dated at
Mazatlan, tbe 16th ult., and I am happy to learn that our
Pacific Squadron, under your command, has, among other im-

360 MEMOIRS OF A
portant points, captured Mazatlan, Guayaraas, and, I suppose,
San Bias.
" I have been waiting here two months and a half to learn
the views of the government at horae, or at least for the arrival
of reinforceraents, before undertaking any new and distant opera
tions. * * ^J * ::: >i5 * * ::= * :|:
"According to instructions from the War Departraent, wbich
mav be chanared on receivina: late dispatches frora rae, I shall,
in proportion to the ari'ival of reinforceraents, occupy, suc
cessively, the principal raining districts, of wbich Zacatecas and
San Luis de Potosi are the respective centres ; next, the State
capitals within ray reach and surplus means ; all with a view to
the internal trade and revenue tbat may be derived therefrom,
to aid in the payraent of the expenses of the occupation, that is,
should the government decide upon covering the country in
order to force tbis Republic to sue for peace ; and we now have
in Me.xico no minister or commissioner (since the recall of Mr.
Trist) to negotiati' a treaty. To effect that oliject, by occupyins-
tbe Miurces of trade and revenue, the mining districts and princi
pal cities, inchidiofT State capitals and ports of entry, at least
liftv thousand men in the ranks, not on paper (.he number I bave
asked for), will be indispensable. . The
coramon service intrusted to us, respectively, is interested in
frequent inter-conimiinication. I shall avail myself of everj"
opportunity to give you information of the movements and opera
tions of this array.
" I have the honor to remain, with high respect, your most
obedient servant, "(Signed) " Winfield SroTT.'
The intelligent reader has before him a picture of
the Avar Avith Mexico as it existed on the 2d day of
December, 1847, draAvn in such a masterly manner
that no corament is necessary. I Avill add a single
remark, that for raonths subsequent to this period our
married officers seriously entertained the idea of send-

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 361
ing to the United States for their farailies, looking to
a permanent residence in Mexico.
Nearly coteraporaneous Avith General Scott's letter
to Coraraodore Shubrick, instructions for General
Scott Avere penned at Washington, Avhich Avill shoAV
the vicAvs of our goA^ernment ; they Avere dated War
Department, December llth, 1847 :
" It is expected that you will use the force under your cora
raand to bold tbe city of ^Mexico, and other places now iu your
pos.-ession, and to keep open the communication between that
place and A'era Cruz, so that supplies, munitions of war, and
merchandise, can be safely conveyed along tbat line witb only
a sraall force to escort and protect thera. Should robbers and
guerillero.< continue to obstruct tbe road, to plunder and raurder
as heretofore, the raost vigorous raeasures should be pursued to
punish them and prevent their depredations. It is desirable to
open the country to tbe ina-ress of luercbandise, frora tbe ports
in our possession, to tbe utmost practicable extent. In thi.-; way
it is anticipated tbat considerable a-^sistance will be derived
toward nieetini;- the expense.-^ of the war.
" You will perceive tbat tbe governraent bere contemplate that
tbe resources of the country are, to a considerable extent, open
to us, and that they are to be resorted to for the purpose of
dirainishing the burden of our expenses. It is also expected you
will make thera available for this purpose as far as practicable.
" The internal revenues, to the extent, at least, to which they
were levied by the Mexican government, are to be kept up and
paid over to the use of our army, so far as it is within our power
to control thera, with the exception of the departmental or tran
sit duties mentioned in a former coraraunication. For this pur
pose, and to deprive the eneray of tbe raeans of organizing
further resistance to protract the war, it is expedient to subject
to our arras other parts of his country. What those parts shall
be is left to your judgment. Our oliject is to obtain acceptable
terras of peace within tbe earliest practicable period, and it is
apprehended that this object cannot be speedily obtained without

362 MEMOIRS OF A
making the enemy feel that he is to bear a considerable part of
the burden of the war.
" Should there not be at this time a governraent in ^Mexico of
sufficient stability to raake peace, or should the authority which
there exists be adverse to it, and yet a large and influential por
tion of the people really disposed to put an end to hostilities, it
is desirable to know what prospect there is tbat the latter could,
with the countenance and protection of our arms, organize a
governraent which would be willing to make peace, and able to
sustain relations of peace witb us. . . .
" ( Signed ) " W. L. :yiAKCT, "Secretary of War.
" !Major-Genoral W. Scott.
" Commanding U. S. Army in Mexico."
There Avas as much, if not more, erabarrassraent in
adrainistration circles at Washington, than at array
headquarters in the valley of Mexico. Politicians
could Avith great unction preach. Conquer a peace, but
far-seeing raen had difficulty in the saooir faire : it
Avas unraistakably a difficult problem, so AA'e Avill
step along Avith the column now about to march, and
await its solution.

CHAPTER XXXV.
MARCH FROM THE NATIONAL BRIDGE.
November 5, 1847. We bade adieu to the bridge,
marching with a column of two thousand five hun
dred raen of all arras to reinforce General Scott, Avho
Avas clamoring, Ave Avere told, for our advance. I Avas
glad to leave this post, not because it Avas unhealthy
and the dutv arduous, but because the warfare Ave had

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 363
been engaged in Avas exceedingly distasteful to me.
The whole command was, I think, glad to get aAvay ;
it Avas still hot, though the rainy season had set in,
and our sick list was increasing at a rapid rate ; the
incessant Avatchfulness, the sarae raonotonous stillness,
broken only by the sound of fire-arras, the isolation of
the post, the enervating and depressing atraosphere,
the indescribable earthy smell of vegetation Avhich
arose as the shades of night fell, the sultry oppress
iveness of the heat, all had tended to dispirit us.
The raost of those we Avere now throAvn Avith Avere
new troops, and as our raen regarded theraselves as
veterans, the association Avas beneficial in restoring'
health and spirits, so that by the tirae we reached
Cerro Gordo Ave Avere once raore in pretty good trim.
We had had no rest since leaving the transport, and
the novelty of the raarch Avith enough support to for
bid all anxiety, exhilarated our raen, and they really
Avere beginning to step and look like soldiers Avhen
AA^e passed through the city of Jalapa, distant seventy
miles frora Vera Cruz.
We had marched some half dozen miles beyond
Jalapa, when we went into carap at a village called
Cedeiio ; Ave Avere brigaded Avith the Second Illinois and
Colonel Withers's Rifle Battalion ; the other brigade,
commanded by General Cushing, was composed of the
First Massachusetts and Second Ohio Regiraents. We
learned here that General Lane's coraraand, Avhicli
preceded us, had had a sharp affair at Huainantla,
and that Captain Samuel Walker, of the Rifles, Avhose
company Avas raised principally in Baltimore, had been
killed, with a good many of his company. I kncAV

364 3IE3IOIRS OF A
Walker on the Rio Grande, and he had a high repu
tation among the Texans as a skillful soldier. As
Avell as I could learn, he charged into the toAvn before
the infantry supports AA^ere up, and Avas overwhelmed
by superior numbers. We also learned that our turn
Avould corae next, as Santa Anna, having abandoned
his attempt upon Puebia, Avas uoav dcA^oting himself to
the troops marching to Scott, and that it was his
troops Avhich had handled Lane so roughly.
This portion of Mexico is far superior to any have
yet seen, more populous, and in a better state of cul-
tiA^ation ; Avhilst the town of Jalapa Avill rank Avith
any European city of its size and population in refine
ment and civilization. We are noAv in the Tierra
Templada, and feel the corafort of a blanket at night,
thougli at mid-day it is nearh' as Avarm as it Avas at
the Xational Bridge. The objection to the climate is
its humidity; at night Ave are dripping Avet in our
tents, and already the recognized grumblers are Avisli-
ing they were somcAvhere else.
November 11. I rode in from carap to pay ray re
spects to my old brigade comraander, Major-General
John A. Quitman, Avho Avas on his Avay home from the
city of Mexico. The meeting Avas raost cordial, and
I congratulated him sincerely upon his Avell-earned
reputation ; he could give me no news as to the proba
ble results of the victories in the valley, and seemed
to be as much at a loss concerning the future of the
Avar as Ave Avere. A year had elapsed since I was in
his brigade, and he told me it was very likelv Ave
AA'ould be together, if living, a year hence, as it looked
as if Ave Avould hold the country.

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 305
We are still uncertain as to our moveraents, and
for the life of me I cannot comprehend this delay in
our march ; the Avhole comraand is fretting and ch.af-
ing in a carap .seeraingly selected for those who, tired
Avith sand, must necessarily need Avet earth, for a couch.
Nwember IG. The Ma.ssachusetts Regiraent left for
Perote. This Avas the regiment originally commanded
by Colonel Caleb Cushing, now a Brigadier-General;
the rest of the troops are still in the marsh, gradually
losing strength as Avell as spirits ; the calculation is,
that one month more of this service, and there Avill
be little remaining except Avhat may be found in the
hospitals. November 22. Our regiment has been ordered into
Jalapa as a portion of its garrison, and Colonel George
W. Hughes appointed Military Governor of the depart
ment ; the Second Illinois Regiment and the Battalion
of NeAV Jersey Volunteers, Lieutenant-Colonel Wood
ruff, being likeAvise ordered in from camp to the city.
We relicA^ed the First Pennsyh^ania Regiment, Colonel
Wynkoop, and a brigade previously stationed here.
November 23. Two American teamsters were hung,
by sentence of a military commission, for a cold
blooded unprovoked murder of a Mexican boy.
November 24. Tavo Mexican officers. Lieutenant
Ambrose Alcalde and Second Adjutant Antonio
Garcia, were shot to-day by sentence of a military
commission for breach of parole. They both ad
mitted that they had broken their paroles, and plead
in justification an order, Avhich they produced, from
Juan de Soto, Governor of the State of Vera Cruz,
commanding thera to take up arras again, or they

366 3IE310IRS OF A
would be reduced to the ranks. They both died like
brave men, the Avords " Viva la Republica Mejicana,"-'''
being the last that fell from their lips.
November 25. Large numbers of paroled Mexican
officers came into the city to-day, and registered their
names at the adjutant's office, as a pledge that they
would not take up arras until regularly exchanged.
November 27. UpAvards of one hundred officers
have already registered their naraes as having been
paroled by the American arms ; they protest in the
most indignant terms against the conduct of De Soto.
November 30. I Avas this day appointed by Colonel
Hughes the Military Commandant of the garrison at
Jalapa ; Colonel Cheatara arrived Avith a regiraent of
Tennesseeans; our troops Avere paid up to the -Slst of
August, 1847-; and Major-General Williara O.Butler,
of Kentucky, arrived Avith a large nuraber of troops
from Tennessee, Ohio, and Kentucky.
December 4. My command was reviewed by Major-
General Butler on the plain adjacent to the city; it
Avas a charming day, the troops looked and behaved
well, and large nurabers of the population turned
out to see the parade. Captain Lloyd Tilghman's
battery of artillery from Baltiraore has arrived, and
is attached to our regiment. I have no hesitation in
saying it is among the best volunteer organizations
in the array ; the raaterial of Avhich it is coraposed
is excellent, and Captain Tilghraan's ability cannot
fail to make it very efficient; a company of cavalry
recruited at Vera Cruz by my old corarade, Captain
* " Long live the Republic of Mexico."

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. SQ7
Chatam R, Wheat, of Tennessee,* has been attached
to our regiment, and the Twiggs Rifles, mounted by
order of General Twiggs ; so that our oavu command is
noAv composed of the necessary arms to constitute it
a legion, viz., iufantr^^, cavalry, and artillery. This
looks as if there Avere some truth in the rumors flying
about, that, since the appointment of Lieutenant-Colo
nel Williara II. Emory, another topographical engi
neer, by the President, our regiraent is destined for
service on the Isthraus of Tehuantepec.

CHAPTER XXXVI.
THE CITY OF JALAPA.
Jal.^pa (pronounced Hahipa) is a handsorae city,
Avith charraing environs ; the surrounding country
fertile, the vegetation perennial ; the lands are Avell
cultivated, producing sugar-cane, coffee, and some fcAV
cereals, Avhile groves of orange-trees and orchards of
pineapple flourish in luxuriant abundance. The
people are generally peaceful and Avell disposed ;
many of the Avealthy families of the city and neigh
borhood are refined, Avell educated, and hospitable ;
we have already been the recipients of Avell-bred
civilities, Avithout any attempt on the part of our hosts
to be anything other than Mexicans in character,
habits, and sentiments. I Avas rauch pleased at
* I have been told that his faraily was originally from the city
of Baltiraore.

368 MEMOIRS OF A
noticing one habit of the Mexican ladies, heads of
families : Avhenever they received us, all the children
were invariably brought into the parlor, and when
AA'e dined or breakfasted Avith them the children Avere
seated at the table Avith the family and guests.
This portion of Mexico has a high reputation for
its climate, and Jalapa is visited during the sickly
seasons by the citizens of Vera Cruz, as our suraraer
resorts are frequented by our people. It is, hoAvever,
at this, the rainy season, far frora being a corafortable
residence to North Americans, there being a great
deal of rain Avith cold nights ; so cold that blankets
are indispensable for Avarmth.
There are many prettA' Avoraen here, some Avith fair
hair and blue eyes; all the ladies are seemingly highly
prized by the gentlemen, for a more jealous set cannot
be found elseAvhere. In the main plaza, Avhere the
market is daily held, the Indian women are to be
seen with their hair braided with fiowers, sitting near
their heap of oranges, vegetables, and fruits, gently
inviting by their modest glances the attention of the
purchaser, and never by look, manner, or speech show
ing aught else than innocence and purity of character.
It seems so strange to me that an opinion should have
got among the people of the United States that the
Mexican Avoraen were iraraoral in their conduct. It is
as groundless an error as ever prevailed, and as gross a
calurany as Avas ever uttered or thought. So far frora
it, I can speak frora an experience of nearly two
years' acquaintance, that the Avoraen of Mexico are as
pure as those of any land, and that in the relations
of Avife and raother they are unsurpassed in the per-

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 369
formance of domestic duties. One fact Avill demon
strate this assertion : uoAvhere on the face of the
earth is the wife and mother more loved and respected
than in Mexico. I challenge any one to contradict
this Avho has had the same opportunity of knowing
as myself
There is one feature connected with these markets
whicli is interesting : the pulque is brought in skius
of hogs and goats securely seAved to prevent leakage,
the beverage being draAvn frora one of the animal's
legs. OA'er and over again I have seen a Mexican
raother, surrounded by her little flock of half a dozen
children, from the babe in arms to the child of ten
or twelve years, approach a pulque seller, take the
skin from his hands, and. applying the leg to the
open and expectant raouth, suffer the delicious (to
them) drink to flow down the greedy throat. It Avas
very attractive to me to Avitness this treat of the little
ones. This Indian blood of Mexico, as far as I have seen,
is certainly the gentlest of any that runs araong the
creatures of the Almighty's hands. Men, as well as
Avomen, are mild and docile ; no one can see them
Avithout being struck with these traits. Fire-arms
and Avhisky destroyed our North American Indians.
They cannot effect the same result with these races;
for, unlike ours, these yield. On -the advance of Scott
he found the road filled with rock and other obstacles
placed by the enemy to impede his advance. A large
force of Indians Avas brought frorn a neighboring
village to remove the impediment. They Avere the
sarae raen who, by order of the Mexican railitary,
24

370 MEMOIRS OF A
had placed thera there. They srailingly went to
Avork and got thera out of the way, looking upon the
Avhole raatter as a good joke, thus to undo for one,
Avithout compensation, that Avhich they had labor
iously Avrought, for the other army.
I neA^er saw a Mexican woman shoAV Avhat Ave call
temper, except upon one occasion, and that Avas in
this tOAvn of Jalapa. General Scott had employed a
spy company for escort and scout duty, Avhich Avas
composed of the Avorst-looking scoundrels I ever
saAV. Robbers and banditti before the war, being
renegades, their characters were not improved. They
came down from the city Avith their captain — Colonel
Dominguez — as an escort to a specie train. Stopping
in front of ray quarters, I Avas looking at thera with
interest, when I noticed one of them, quite a lad,
drinking frora the usual drinking-cup, a gourd, Avhich
a Avoman on the sidewalk had just handed him. He
drank Avith his head averted, unmistakably ashamed
of the corapany he was in. He returned the gourd
to the Avoraan, who, without a Avord, thrcAv it on the
ground and crushed it under her foot. The action
Avas seen by several of the villains, whose savage
looks might have been followed by blows ; but I
made a move Avhich attracted their attention, and
the woraan slipped into her house.
The society of Jalapa would be considered good in
any raetropolitan city, and I hope I raay be pardoned
for mentioning the narae of Mr. Jaraes Kennedy, an
American gentleman intermarried Avith a Mexican
lady, whose interesting family and hospitable man
sion were always open to our visits, and whose con-

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 37I
tinned civilities to us all Avill be long remerabered.
We Avere also under great obligations to Mr. Henry
Hall, of Poughkeep.sie, NeAV York, the superintendent
of a cotton factory in the vicinity of the town, Avhose
long residence in the country, and familiarity with the
Mexican language and character, rendered his society
not only agreeable but at all times advantageous to
the officers of our garrison. Neither of these gentle
men had lost any of their attachment to their native
country, and both were highly respected by the in
habitants of Jalapa.
Several of the Mexican residents were owners of
estates in the vicinity, to Avhich Ave were frequently
invited, and Avhere Ave enjoyed the delicious fruit of
the country freshly gathered frora plant and tree,
Avhere the luscious chirimoya, the pomegranate, and
the pineapple Avere piled upon tables already beautiful
Avith the Efolden hue of the oranfie and the dark Erreen
of the lime, and Avhere the perfume of the A'anilla
min"ied Avith the aroma of the mimosa and the arbor
vita3. On one of these haciendas, belonging to Seiior G.,
lying five miles south-Avest of Jalapa, and called
Apacho, there was one field of cane three leagues
square, Avhich produced twenty thousand pounds of
sugar per week for eight months in the year. As the
fortune of this gentieman Avas princely, his entertain
ment was magnificent. After the repast we accom
panied him to the pineapple orchard, Avhich Avas then
in full fruit; the laborers were all clad in skins, each
with a long knife, called a machete, very sharp on
both edges, Avith which the bushes or trees are kept

372 MEMOIRS OF A
trimmed. These trees are not more than four or five
feet high, and the peon (laborer), severing the fruit
from the tree by a single touch, seizes the branch be
neath the fruit, when, Avith tAvo or three rapid and
dexterous cuts, the apple is pared, and, dripping Avith
its fragrant juice, is handed you on the end of the
knife. I am sure in this AA^ay the pineapple as a
tropical fruit is unsurpassed for flavor, except by the
peach and cantaloupe of dear old Maryland, in the
temperate regions of the north. The orange-groves
on this estate Avere so large and the quantity so great
that Seiior G. said he knew not Avhat to do with the
fruit, — the beauty of the orchard Avhen the fruit Avas
ripe, as noAv, and the perfume of the blossoms earlier in
the season, compensating for their care and expense.

CHAPTER XXXVIL
IN GARRISON.
The Ayuntamiento or Town Council of Jalapa
Avas continued in its civil functions, Avorking har
moniously Avith the military authorities of the United
States. The town was quiet, except Avhen the pass
age of a train Avith its escort left in its Avake the
worthless and dissolute, to molest the citizens and
annoy the railitary ; as a general thing, the relations
between our soldiers and the toAvnspeople AA-ere
friendly, and it was not at all an uncoraraon sight to
see an Araerican soldier mending his boots alongside

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 373
a Mexican shoemaker, or a carpenter in uniform Avork
ing at the sarae bench Avith a Mexican raechanic. I
saAV a soldier looking Avith great interest at sorae native
masons laving brick."" They Avere at work upon a
platform, elevated some dozen or so feet from the
earth, to Avhich a raan Avas carrying mortar upon his
head on a square board instead of a hod. The masons
stood immediately in front of the Avail they Avere
constructing, placed each brick .separately on its bed,
used a plumb line, square, etc., to see that each brick
Avas correctly aligned, occupying as much time in
laying a half-dozen bricks as an American mechanic
Avould in Laying one hundred. The soldier asked if
he might show the- Mexicans how to Avork. I re
plied, certainly, if he Avere a bricklayer. He said
that he Avas. Mounting to the platform, one of the
Mexicans gave to him his trowel, the ordinary steel
tool of English manufacture, and the soldier Avent to
Avork. It Avas really a pleasure to Avitness the grati
fication of the Mexicans as they saAv the rapidity
and skill Avith Avhich the American mason did his
Avork.. I left him instructing his felloAV-craftsmen ; and,
as the genius of the Me.xican is in imitation, I haA'e
no doubt that hereafter Mexican bricklayers Avill
Avork secundum artem.
There were tAventy-one companies of troops and a
battery of artillery distributed over the town; the

* Bricks are now burned in kilns set up recently b}' Araericans
in several [)arts of Mexico. Tbey are made of good quality,
aud tbe contrast between tbese kiln-burned brick and the sun-
dried adobe of ancient days is greatly in favor of the former.

374 3IE310IRS OF A
daily duties Avere onerous upon the Military Com-
raandant ; it was his duty to approve all the requisi
tions and returns, to receive and revise the raorning
reports (Avhich I regard as second in iraportance to no
duty devolving upon an officer), to attend or be pres
ent Avhen the grand guard Avas turned off, to receive
the reports of the old officers of the guard and to give
instructions to the ncAv, to inspect the company drills,
the corapany quarters, and the hospitals, to revise
and sign the consolidated raorning reports, then pre
sent hiraself in person at the Governor's quarters for
orders and instructions. These Avere the invariable
rescular mornina duties ; the afternoons Avere eniploved
in drilling the District of Colurabia and Maryland
Reairaent or the several Battalions, in evolutions of
the line. At night the town was thoroughly patrolled
by details raade from the maiiiguard, the commis
sioned officer in charge being required to report irame-
diatelv to the Commandant any cause for danger or
disturbance. Scouts Avere daily sent in various direc
tions, the main road patrolled by mounted men,
pickets and videttes established on prominent land
marks, everything Avhich ability or experience could
suggest for the proper maintenance of the post was
successfully done.
One of our greatest sources of anxietj^ Avas the ill
health of the comraand, especially the raortality in
the Second Illinois Regiraent, one company of Avhich
had lost tAventy-six men, including the captain and
first lieutenant, since reaching Jalapa; in all. the
seeds of disease Avere planted in the Tierra Caliente,
and the imprudence of the sick in eating pineapple

3IA RYLAND VOLUNTEER. 375
2nes did the rest. Notwithstanding the advice of the
surgeons, despite the most stringent hospital regula
tions, the invalids Avould eat these pies, and they
Avere almost as certain death as a bullet through the
body. The desire of the sick, the morfjid craving of
these poor fellows for cheese and pineapple, Avas as
Avonderful as it Avas painful to Avitness; no amount
of punishment inflicted upon the A^endors could
keep thera from selling their pernicious articles to
the sick.
In the month of Deceraber, Major-General Thoraas
Marshall, of Kentucky, arrived Avith troops, among
Avhich was a fine company from Washington, recruited
and coraraanded by ray lieutenant and friend, Cap
tain Francis B. Schaeffer; it Avas a rifle corapany,
handsomely dressed in dark blue jackets and pants,
and attracted marked attention from our Aveather-
beaten e impanies from the same city. It Avas perma
nently attached to our regiraent.
December 11. General MarshaU revicAved the crarri-
son of .Jalapa on the parade-ground, and the concourse
of people to Avitness it Avas greater than on the pre-
vdous review. I dined AA'ith the general, and had the
pleasure of hearing from his lips an account of the
" free fight" Avhich took place in Louisville sorae years
ago, and Avhich gave an ^clat to his narae.
January 1, 1848. Last evening I visited by invi
tation the dwelling of a citizen to witness a Natividad
or Nacimiento, illustrative of the nativity of our
Saviour. It Avas a scenic and panoramic representa
tion of the raanger, the adoration of the shepherds,
the Avorship of the Magi, the star in the east, the

376 3IEM0IRS OF A
hills of Bethlehem, etc., which occupied the walls of
tAA'o parlors and was an artistic and creditable piece of
work. These representations take the place of our
Christmas-trees, much time and money being ex
pended on their construction and adornment, the old
as well as the young manifesting much interest in the
display and the fetes to Avhich they give rise. On
this evening, the house Avas visited by a procession of
young girls dressed in Avhite Avith Avreaths of floAvers
on their heads. Avho passed round the rooms singing
a hymn in adoration of the blessed virgin and the
infant Messiah. Music from a piano, harp, and
guitars accompanied the singing, adding to the
melody and sweetness of the voices and the measured
cadence of the march. Altogether it Avas a pleasing
and attractive entertainment.
To-day I .attended high mass at the cathedral ; the
rhurcii '.'.as lilled, and as the bells pealed tweh'e
meridian, the croAvd Avhich filled the main plaza
uncovered, and for a fcAV seconds a silence still as
death reigned OA'er all. The solemn ritual of the
Roman Catholic Church, impressive at all times, is
p.iarticularly noticeable in its effects upon the Indian
population of this country ; no man who knoAvs its
character Avould CA^er doubt the good results flowing
from these ceremonies, and the introduction of paint
ings and music, to lead their plastic minds to the Avor
ship of the only true God, and away from the deviltries
and .«u[)erstitiiins of their former priests, and altars
smoking from the blood of human A'ictims sacrificed
to their hideous idols of stone. Civilization has
done, and Avill do, much to modify church ceremonies.

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 377
but you might as Avell expect a child to read Avithout
knowing letters, or to speak other languages than its
mother-tongue, as to expect an idolater to giA^e up
his images and accept a spiritual Avorship before his
understanding can grasp the lesson intended to be
taught. All men have a spiritual Avorship within
their souls ; and to guide it and to lead it, Avhether
such be on the plains of Mexico or in the streets of
London, requires all the Avisdora of man, enlightened
Avith the grace of God. To teach an Indian the fen
commandments, is quite feasible ; to explain the re
ligion of Christ to them, is another raatter ; if a paint
ing Avill illustrate a half intelligible idea, and music
elevate the soul, Avhj' not use these adjuncts to in
struction ? Object-teaching ever has been, and ever
Avill ue. the true ami elementary means of instruction,
in the infant schools of the Avorld.
January 6. To-day I Avas aAvakened early AA'ith
the information that a train coming up had been
attacked by guerilleros, and reinforcements asked
for frora our garrison. I soon received orders from
Colonel Hughes to march Avith our regiment, and Avas
informed by him that he Avould follow Avith the
mounted raen and the New Jersey Battalion. I
marched rapidly, reaching Cerro Gordo early next
morning; Colonel Hughes coming up with the cavalry
assumed command and pushed the cavalry forAvard
to Plan del Rio. Holding Cerro Gordo Pass, we
Avatched the approach of the train, Avhich Ave could
plainly do by reasr n of the cloud of dust which hung
over and aboA^e the line of Avagons and column of
troops. During the morning couriers reached us

378 3IE310IRS OF A
from the commanding officer of the train, Avith ncAvs
that everything was going on well, that he had re
pulsed the attack, with a loss of three raen killed, and of
tAVO hundred pack mules Avith their cargoes, and that
he anticipated no further danger. This gave us leisure
to look over the battle-field, which will forever prove
an interesting study to soldiers. I have before referred
to it, but notice it again to say that the whole right
of the Mexican army Avas in a perfect cul-de-sac ; as
long as the line of Mexican battle was intact, the right
Avas formidable, as the action proved ; but Avhen the
left Avas turned, as it Avas, the centre Avas poAverless,
and the right prisoners of Avar, without a chance of
escape. The observation of this field I AA'ould recom
mend to all students of the military art ; it Avould be
Avorth months of study in books at college. The
field was yet strcAvn Avith the debris of battle. Ameri
can and Mexican bones, clothing, arms, belts, cartridge-
boxes, and sorae half-dozen heavy guns lying with
battered carriages about their silent erabrasures. It
is a solemn feeling to look on, in stillness, Avhere the
crash of battle has been heard, and see the earth en
cumbered Avith the harness of raen who grappled in
mortal conflict, a belt plate here, a tuft of hair there,
Avith a feAV buttons and a broken gun ; these tell of
anything else ihan soldier's glory living in storj'-.
They tell, in the solitude of your heart, of the utter
nothingness of all this trash, that the liA'ing reap Avhat
the dead perished to Avin, and that the peace of God,
Avhich passeth all understanding, is raore to be desired
than all this Avorld can give of honor or of riches, of
clorv or of renoAvn.

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 379
We returned to Jalapa on the evening of the 8th,
the head of the train being Avell up with us Avhen Ave
marched into the city. There was a good deal of
amuseraent occasioned by the plunder of the raule
train, as the merchandise belonged to English mer
chants, Avho had been loudest in their professions of
friendship to the guerilleros, and who had boasted of
the security Avith which their goods could pass through
the Tierra Caliente.
January 10, 11, 12. President of a court of in
quiry, convened by order of Colonel Hughes, to in
quire into the matter of an alleged robbery of the
church at the A'illage of San Andres, by Lieutenant
 and a scouting party from the garrison.
The court could find but little to sustain the charge,
and the proceedings were abandoned.
January 15. In company Avith Colonel Hughes
and a larae number of offi.cers. I Avent bv inA-itation
to the hacienda of Seiior  to Avitness some of
the sports of the country ; a large number of Mexi
cans Avere present. The first performance Avas this :
a bull Avas driven frora the corral or cattle-pen, and
after he had got into the open fields nurabers of raen
on horseback pursued ; the foremost seized the bull
by the tail, then by Avrapping it round tho leg and
giving the horse a spur so as to make hira turn sud-
denlv, lettinii'o-o the tail of the bull at the same time,
they generally succeeded in pitching the bull on its
head, Avhen it Avould lie stunned and raotionless for
sorae time. SeA'eral cattle Avere subsequently started
out together, and as many as thirt}' horsemen pur
sued Avith the same result, the most skillful riders and

380 31E310IRS OF A
tail-seizers being first to catch and throw the startled
and disconcerted animals. I could not but be pleased
with the admirable horsemanship displayed, but Avas
disgusted with this sport, and still more Avhen a man
bestrode the neck of a bull, and made him run bv
.spurring him in the face, the rider holding on to the
horns of the poor beast. They then gave us displays
of hor.se-racing and throAving the lasso, Avhich Avere
interesting and noA'el, but I had become so vexed at
the Avanton cruelty of the preceding entertainments
that I paid but little attention to the feats of skill.
My estimate of Mexican character Avas not much
raised by the visit to this hacienda, and I concluded
that I had seen my last bull-chase.
January 20. Inforraation having reached here that
an attack Avas to be raade un a train under charge of
Captain M. K. Taylor of our regiraent, the Ncav .Jersey
Battalion and a section of Tilghraan's Battery Avere
dispatched to Corral Falso ; these troops returned on
the 22dj bringing the train in safely.
¦farutary 23. A prisoner named  , under
sentence for killing a Mexican, made his escape early
this morning from the guard-house ; he Avas recap
tured at Coatepec, brought back, and at eA'ening
parade he and an accoraplice Avere tied to the Avheels
of a cannon and received, each, fifty lashes on their
bare backs, as a portion of their sentence.
¦lanuary 24. In obedience to orders frora the head
quarters of the army, the larger portion of the garri
son Avas marched out of the city to Coatepec, five
miles distant, so as not to interfere Avith the Mexi
cans. Avho AA'ere to hold an election. There being

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 381
rauch aguardiente — Mexican brandy — in this village,
sorae of the command got drunk, and Ave had con
siderable trouble; two of the stragglers Avere mur
dered, and their bodies shockingly mutilated.
¦January 27. Having receiA'ed information that a
considerable number of deserters from the American
army Avere being secreted in a village fifteen miles
distant. Captain Lloyd Tilghman Avas sent Avith one
hundred mounted men to capture them and the
parties who Avere keepin? them. He returned on the
2Sth, bringing Avith him four deserters, and on the
29th three more Avere brought in b}' a portion of his
coraraand. It is alleged that these raen were seduced
frora their duty bv an organization now existing
amouLT Mexicans. Avhose object is to corrupt the rank
and file of the American army by money and proraises
of promotion in their army. Among these so charged
is a priest or curate of Naolinco. Avith Avhom some of
these deserters were found by Captain Tilghman ; he
has been arrested, and Avill be tried by a railitary
commisision. January 30 — Sunday. Inspected the garrison, hos
pital, and company quarters ; in the CA'ening Avent to
an American circus Avhich had travelled here from the
coast en route to the city of Mexico ; the soldiers Avere
delighted, and it rerainded one of home to hear the
familiar cries of boyhood uttered by thera at the ring
performances, the antics and the witty sayings of the
clown ; I ara sure our raen were as near happy as it
is in the power of raortals to be.
February 3. More ruraors frora Cerro Gordo ; sent
Captains Brown and Schaeffer's corapanies, Avhich

382 MEMOIRS OF A
brought in safely the train said to have been threat
ened. February 5. A Mexican named Bustaraente Avas
shot to-day by sentence of a court-martial, for being
a guerilla, and for numerous acts of villainy. Having
been solicited to act as counsel for the priest Rafael
Ignacio Cortez, charged Avith seducing Araerican sol
diers to desert and harboring them in his house at
Naolinco, I appeared to-day before the military com
mission in his behalf I continued to act in his de
fense daily, until the Sth, Avhen the proceedings
against hira Avere suspended.
February 9. A deputation of the citizens of Nao-
iinco Availed upon rae to thank me for my services in
behalf of their curate, the priest Cortez. They knew
my services had been voluntary, and they behaved
very Avell; no gentlemen anyAvhere could have shown
more propriety of conduct.
February 15. To-day, for the tenth tirae at least,
we have certain news from the city of Mexico that a
treaty of peace has been .signed by commissioners ; a
certain gentleman of high standing heard Mr. So-and-
so, brother-in-laAv of the minister of foreign relations,
say — these are the kind of rumors that occupy much
of the conversation of this garrison.
February 16. To-day, Major C. and Herr  ,
a magician, eu route to the city, dined Avith us ; after
dinner, Herr  araused us Avith a variety of
tricks, Avhich suspended during their performance all
military and domestic duties about ray headquarters.
I cannot say which Avere the raost interested, the sol
diers or the Mexican servants ; this Avas inside the

3IARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 383
house, while outside the croAvd Avas so great that the
patrol had difficulty in dispersing it. Before the guests
left, I had iuAvardly resolved never to have a magician
at headquarters, it not being conducive to military
discipline. February 20 — Sunday. Having been officially in
forraed that a bull-fight Avas to take place to-day at
the amphitheatre for such purpo.ses in the toAvn, and
further, that it Avas expected I Avould be present as
commandant of the garrison, I Aveiit Avith all cere
mony, and was ushered into a room or box of state,
over the raain entrance, and opposite to where the
matadors entered. These soon came in, gaudily
dressed, preceded by a clown, holding a baton, Avhich
he flourished as they approached, and raade obeisance
Avith oriental disinitv. When the bull came in, the fisjlit
commenced by goading him Avith lances in the hands of
the picadors, and shaking red flags by the banderillos
before his eyes; finally, blazing fircAvorksAvere attached
to the flanks, shoulders, and forehead of the agonized
beast, until, maddened to desperation, he received the
fatal blow from the chief killer, who Avas honored by
an enthusiastic round of vivas by the large audience
Avhich Avas present.
I saAV several bulls killed, several horses ripped up,
and Avas very rauch in hopes that I Avould see some
of the Mexican performers killed or nicely gored, for
the effect of the Avhole exhibition was to make me
side Avith the bull, and it was as much as I could do
to keep quiet. Nothing but Avhat I deemed official
etiquette kept rae in my seat to the close of the per
formance. I permitted another one to take place on

384 31EM0IRS OF A
the 23d, and suspended the drills so as to enable the
men to Avitness a bull-fight, but none other Avere ever
allowed Avhilst I Avas in command.
February 29. Brigadier-General N. ToAvson, Pay
master-General, arrived to-day from Vera Cruz, es
corted by Captains White and Besancon of the
Loui.-^iana Mounted Men. I gave him a review, and
drilled the brigade in evolutions of the line; it Avas
a beautiful day, the troops looked splendidly, and
manoeuvred so well that I Avas much pleased.
March 1. To-day the following order Avas issued
at the headquarters of the army :
'¦ Headquakters, Army of Mexico,
¦' Mexico, ilarch 1, 1818.
"Orders Nn. IG.]
"I. Tbe troops of this array are organized into divisions as
follows :
" REGULAR TROOPS — OLD AND NEW REGIMENTS.
" 1. Brevet-Major-General Worth's Division. Brevet-
Captain George Deas, Assistant Adjutant-General. — Light Com
pany A, Second Artillery ; the Second and Third Artillery ;
Fourth, Fifth. Sixth and Eighth Infantry.
" 2. Brevet-Brigadier-General S.mith's Division. Brevet-
Captain J. Hooker, Assistant Adjutant-General. — Light Cora
pany K, First Artillery ; Regiraent of Mounted Fourth Artillery ;
First, Second, Tbird and .Seventh Infantry, and ^larine Corps.
" 3. Brigadier-Ge.veral Cadavalader's Division. Brevet-
Captain F. -N. Page, .Assistant Adjutant-General. — Field Bat
tery under the coraraand of Captain Steptoe ; Third Artillery;
Ninth, E<eventh, Twelfth, Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth
Infantry, and 7oltigeurs. "VOLUNTEER TROOPS.
" 1. Major-General Patterson's Division. Brevet-Captain

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 385
W. W. Mackall, Assistant Adjutant-General. — Battalion Georgia
Horse, three companies Illinois Horse; Massachusetts, First
and Second Pennsylvania, New York, District of Columbia and
Maryland, South Carolina, Second and Fourth Ohio, Second
Illinois, Regiments of Foot; New Jersey and Georgia Battalions
of Foot, and one company of Florida Foot.
"2. Brigadier-General Marshall's Division. Brevet-Cap
tain E. R. S. Canby, Assistant Adjutant-General.  Seven com
panies Louisiana Horse, Battalion Texas Horse, Lawler's
Company of Horse ; Third and Fourth Kentucky, Fourth and
Fifth Indiana, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Tennessee ; Louisiana
Regiment of Foot ; Mississippi and Louisiana Battalions of Foot.
" II. The tield-batteries under the command of Lieutenants
W. II. French, First Artillery, and M. Lovell, Fourth Artillery,
are assigned to the First and Second Divisions of "Volunteers,
respectively. " III. Commanders of Divisions will organize the troops under
tbem into brigades ; the Regulars into two and the Volunteers
into three brigades.
" IV. The Fourteenth Infantry and Toltigeurs, under the senior
officer, will proceed to Toluca, and there relieve the Sixth and
Eighth Infantry, which latter regiraents will then proceed to the
city of Mexico.
" y. Colonel Bonhara with the Twelfth Infantry will proceed
to Cuernavaca, and relieve the First Infantry, which regiraent
will then proceed to the city of Mexico. Colonel Bonhara is
assigned to the comraand of the department of Cuernavaca, and
will relieve Colonel Clarke, Sixth Infantry, who, on being re
lieved, will join his regiment.
' VI. The chiefs of the several departments will avail them
selves of the change of troops to send supplies, should any be
required, to Toluca and Cuernavaca, as well as receive stores
from those posts. " By order of Major-General Butler,
" (Signed) " L. Thomas, " A. A.-G."
This was the first official order we had seen not

386 MEMOIRS OF A
issued by Major-General Winfield Scott ; we knew he
had been superseded, or suspended from coraraand,
but it pained rae to see that, though in the country,
another general officer Avas in coraraand.
It will be perceived that we were in the First Divi
sion of Volunteers, and I Avas officially informed that
unless peace Avas soon made our regiment Avould be
relieved and ordered to the city of Mexico, that I
might expect orders to march at any raoraent.
March 2. General Towson and staff left for Puebia
and Mexico.
March 6. On court of inquiry in  case.
March 7. Visited the cotton factory under the
superintendence of Mr. Hall.
March 8. Brigade drill and evolutions of the line ;
a train arrived from the city of Mexico, bringing me
copies of an armistice Avhich had been agreed upon ;
sent copies of the armistice to my father, to Hon.
RcA'erdy Johnson, Hon. John Glenn, Mr. Thomas
HoUingsworth Morris, and to Mr. A. S. Abell, of the
Baltimore Sun newspaper.
March 10. The Illinois Volunteers left for Puebia;
we are expecting daily our orders to march ; peace-
stock low to-day.
March 16. A train came doAvn from the city es
corted by the First Pennsylvania Regiraent, under
coraraand of Lieutenant-Colonel Sarauel Black, an
old friend ; Brigadier-General Joseph Lane was with
the escort, en route for horae ; he seeraed much pleased
to meet me once raore, and gave a full account of his
fight at Huaraantla and other incidents of the cara
paign. Captain Walker's corapany fought very bravely

31 A RYLAND VOLUNTEER. 387
at Huaraantla and lost heavily, Avhich I have before
stated, but raention again, as General Lane gave rae
the inforraation. The general also said that General
Butler had told him there would be a peace negotiated
beyond a doubt, and that he thought the troops Avould
be leaving the country about the raiddle of May ;
peace-stock up again to-day. After leaving General
Lane, I raet several of my old companions-in-arms,
who agreed that the prospects of a peace Avere not
encouraging, and the general opinion of army officers
in the city of Mexico Avas that it Avas doubtful Avhether
the Mexicans would raake peace. I visited at night
the principal hotel in Jalapa, the Vera Cruzano, Avhich
Avas thronged with officers of our array from above
and beloAv, a considerable number of paroled Mexican
officers, and many citizens ; there Avas but one subject
of conversation, — the probabilities of peace. I kncAv
nearly every gentleman in the hotel, and after hear
ing and observing all I could, arrived at the conclu
sions that a peace Avas doubtful, that the minds of
both Americans and Mexicans were in doubt as to
what was best to be done, and that neither cared much
Avhether the armistice Avould end in peace or war.
March 21. Captain Marcellus K. Taylor, of the
TAviggs Mounted Rifles, with his company, came up
from Vera Cruz, bringing a mail-bag found by one of
his men lying in the chaparral near the National
Bridge. It had contained a raail sent from this post,
and all the letters which were recovered had been
torn open, presenting a muddy and very sorry ap
pearance. I caused notice to be given to the garrison,
and soon a very aniraated and arausing scene Avas

388 ME310IRS OF A
witnessed. The officers were first permitted to ap
proach the pile of soiled and crumpled letters, from
Avhich any written by themselves might be reclaimed.
Next the non-commissioned officers came ; then the
privates. There were several hundred — perhaps five
hundred — letters, and there were at least one thou
sand soldiers, many of Avhom had never Avritten a
letter in their lives, all desirous of a personal ex
amination of the pile, to find a letter. There were,
perhaps, fifty of these letters upon Avhich the address
could not be made out, nor the names of the writers.
These Avere, however, clairaed by one or other of the
soldiers, and forraed the reading matter of the entire
garrison for several Aveeks. The shouts of laughter
Avhich at times were heard from the barracks indi
cated that one of these letters, containing news from
the army, Avas being read to the great delight of the
audience. March 23. Visited to-day Coatepec, the Rancho de
los Manueles, the Hacienda of Orduna, and a famous
pineapple orchard near Coatepec.
March 25. A raail arrived to-day from the United
States, bringing the intelligence that our Congress
Avas expected to reject the project of a treaty of peace
Avhich had been received frora the city of Mexico.
The leading inhabitants of Jalapa were soon in pos
session of the information, and it created an iraraense
exciteraent. The news took the Mexicans completely
by surprise, as no one in this country thought that
we would reject any treaty of peace. It will have a
good effect.

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 389

CHAPTER XXXVII L
GENERAL SANTA ANNA, AND HIS RECEPTION, BY THE
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA AND AIARTLAND REGIMENT, AT
JALAPA. After Santa Anna left the city of Me.xico, on the
morning of the 14th of September, he Avent to Guada
lupe, where he resigned the Presidency to Pena y Pena,
dispatched General Herrera to Queretaro, which, by de
cree, he made the seat of government, and then with
his comraand raarched eastward to Puebia. He had a
double purpose in view : he was in rear of Scott and on
his line of comraunications ; and if he could get pos
session of Puebia, he Avas in a strong position, as a
point d'appui for bis friends and partisans. Puebia
was near falling ; but Colonel Childs heroically held
out, until the approach of General Lane's coluran
relieved hira, by withdrawing Santa Anna and his
troops to meet the latter at Huaraantla. It Avas
evidently the purpose of Santa Anna to fall upon
the coluran of Americans, while on the march to the
relief of Puebia. If he could have severed this.
General Rea would have sallied out from Puebia,
and thus Lane's troops would have been betAveen the
two bodies of Mexicans. Captain Walker brought
on the corabat before either general Avas ready ; but
the attack coraing from the Americans disarranged
Santa Anna's plans, and gave the victory to Lane.
There Avere thirteen killed and eleven AVOunded,

390 3IE3IOIRS OF A
nearly all of which fell upon Walker's mounted rifies
and the volunteer cavalry. The result of this engage
raent Avas, the relief of Puebia by the retreat of the
Mexicans, and General Lane entered the city. This
was on the 13th of October, and Huaraantla was
Santa Anna's last battle. He had fought his last
fight for a country Avhich requited his services by
depriving hira of comraand. Pena y Peiia directed
hira to turn over his troops to General Rincon, and
the greatest of all the generals of Mexico was an
outcast and a fugitive.
There is nothing connected with the history of the
Avar with Mexico so unintelligible as the permission
given by our governraent, in May, 1846, to perrait
General Santa Anna to enter Mexico. He was at
the tirae in Havana, and instructions were given
Coraraodore Conner to let him pass, should he desire
to return to Mexico. He did return, by raeans of
having his agents and eraissaries, thoroughly to blind
and deceive those, who thought that through his
agency peace might be made Avith the United States.
No fair man Avho Avas in the war frora the begin
ning, but raust adrait, that Santa Anna was true to
his country from first to last. But he never recov
ered from this act of our government, for it made the
Mexicans distrust him. It was beyond even their
statecraft, to iraagine, that the United States would
suffer their ablest raan to return to Mexico, unless he
had been bought.
It Avill be reraembered that Buena Vista was his
first battle, and a Mexican officer told rae, at Tampico,
that Santa Anna had designedly suffered his troops

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 39 1
to be cut to pieces, and in that battle he had heard
soldiers say " they were sold by Santa Anna," as they
AA'ere falling beneath the fire of the Araericans. Such
language as this Avas the result of our policy, unin
tentionally sowing distrust araong the soldiers of
Mexico ; yet Santa Anna led the survivors frora that
field to raeet the Araericans again and again, until
Valencia's conduct at Contreras crushed his fortunes
and his military prestige. When the city of Mexico
fell, the star of Santa Anna sunk beneath the horizon
of his country; yet he continued to struggle, Avhile
there Avas the semblance of a hope, or the shadow of
arraed resistance to the American troops.
No man Avho claims to be a .soldier can deny to
Santa Anna railitary genius, courage, and fidelity to
his country, in the Avar Avith the United States.
Some time in January, 1S48, he raade application
to the Queretaro government for permission to leave
Mexico. After sorae delay passports Avere granted,
and, having opened a correspondence with Colonel
Hughes, through tAvo of his friends in Jalapa, he
inforraed Colonel Hughes that he proposed to take
up his residence at an estate belonging to him near
Jalapa, called Encerro, until a vessel was ready to
receive him at Antigua, Avhen he would sail for for
eign parts. He desired to know whether Hughes
Avould give hira a safeguard, concluding his letter
Avitli complimentary allusions to Colonel Hughes and
this garrison. Hughes replied that he Avould receive
his Excellency Avith all honors, and furnish hira Avith
the necessary safeguard and an escort when he Avished
to leave the country.

392 MEMOIRS OF A
At 8 o'clock on the morning of the 28th of March
Colonel Hughes and staff left the main plaza with
the intended escort for Santa Anna of three com
panies of mounted men, which I had the honor to
command. We marched on the Perote road six miles
to the village of San Miguel, and halted at the resi
dence of General Durand, Avho had command of the
castle of San Juan de Ulloa at the time of its surrender
to Scott. The general had a collation prepared for
us of bananas, oranges, frijoles, cheese, wine, etc.,
which we heartily enjoyed. After lunch our videttes
announced the approach of the distinguished Mexican
leader. My coraraand was forraed to receive him.
The first of the cavalcade Avas a sraall body of aa-cII-
equipped and Avell-appointed lancers; next folloAved
the General's carriage drawn by eight raules, close
behind Avhich another corapany of lancers folloAved.
As the carriage Avas nearly up to my right, I gave
the comraand, " Present sabres !" saluting at the sarae
time. The General, who Avas sitting on the rear seat,
arose and returned the salute, and I noticed, sitting
at his side, his wife, "el flor de M^jico." The carriage
halted at General Durand's house, and the ex-Presi
dent, Avife, and daughter alighted. We were pre
sented forraally, and I had an opportunity of looking
at this extraordinary man. My first thought Avas,
How like ray father he is ! and, whilst this first ira
pression was dAvelling in ray mind, Captain Lloyd
Tilghman remarked, " Hoav much he is like Major
Kenly's father!"
General Santa Anna is a little over the middle
height in stature, rather stout, Avith a quiet, sedate

31 A RYLAND VOLUNTEER. 393
air, and a countenance expressive of great firmness; it
was now shaded with that cast which trouble and
sorroAv always give. He was dressed in a dark olive
suit, the coat being large and long, like what we call a
surtout, with large brass buttons. When he received
me, he was standing up with his cork leg extended
slightly out from his body, and his left side he was
supporting with a cane. I begged him to be seated,
but he declined, saying that although he was lame he
Avas not fatigued, as he was accustoraed to standing.
I told him that to a soldier the honor of losing a leg
in battle compensated for the inconvenience occasioned
by its loss. He seeraed pleased with the remark, and
I stepped aside to permit others to be presented. I
sat down by the daughter, who is a child of his first
wife, and looked with interest at his present Avife of
Avhom I had heard so much. I judged her to be about
eighteen or twenty years old, mediura height, a beau
tiful figure, and Avith as lovely a face as I had ever
seen — nothing at all Mexican in it, entirely Anglo-
Saxon, fair skin, hazel eyes, dark hair, SAveet mouth,
and a set of teeth rivaling ivory in beauty. I readily
understood why she Avas called the fioioer of Mexico.
Her manner was ladylike and pleasing, but as cool as
if she were dining in the President's house at Mexico,
surrounded by the body-guard of her husband. How
different the demeanor and conduct of the daughter,
a girl about fourteen years of age ! her features were
literally pinched sharp Avith the most evident anxiety
and trouble, her manner so nervous and uneasy that
I pitied her very much. I asked her if she had ever
studied the English language; she replied, No, that

394 ME3I0IRS OF A
she was siempre caminando, that is, ahvays on the
move or traveling; it is difficult to give the full force
of this sentence, accompanied as it was by a look of
much sadness. Knowing as I did that her father
had been hunted for months, narroAvly escaping
with his life, I could not doubt that she had been
siempre caminando. Dinner Avas announced at tAvo
and a half o'clock p.m., and we sat down. Madarae
Santa Anna sat at the head of the table, the Gen
eral on her right, Avith Colonel Hughes on her left.
After dinner the General asked rae if I Avould sraoke,
at the same time handing a case containing about
a dozen cigars. I declined receiving them, Avhen
he inquired if I did not smoke; I replied that I
did ; he then asked me Avhy I did not take one, to
which I replied, that they were all such great smokers
at my end of the table, that if they once got hold of
his case he would never see his cigars again. He
laughed very heartily and made me take thera ; they
Avere soon distributed, except tAvo, Avhich I kept for
my father, and suhsequently sent home to him.
I was getting A'ery uneasy ; a few days before this
there had arrived a regiment of Texas Rangers, who
were encaraped betAveen San Miguel and Jalapa on
both sides of the raain road along Avhich Ave had to
pass. I Avas Avell acquainted with its coraraander.
Colonel Jack Hays, a faraous partisan, Avith Avhora I
had served at Monterey and on the Rio Grande.
HaA'ing heard that threats were raade, that Santa
Anna should not pass alive through their carap, I had
spoken to Colonel Hays on the subject. He told me
he thought there Avas no danger, but I Avas not satis-

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 395
fied, and now among the croAvd which thronged at the
door of the dining-roora I noticed Colonel Hays. I
rose frora the table, and approaching the colonel,
who was dressed as usual, Avith a round jacket, Mexi
can hat, and no badge of rank other than a silk sash
tied round his waist after the fashion of the Mexicans,
said to hira, " Suppose you let nie present you to Gen
eral Santa Anna;' he said, "Well," and Ave walked
toAvard the head of the table. As we approached him
there Avas general suspension of conversation, a move
raent of alarm was perceptible among the Me.xican offi
cers of the escort, and a silence very painful to rae per
vaded the hall. Santa Anna as yet Avas eating fruit.
I said, "General, perrait rae to present to you" — when
I had got thus far, he turned his face toward us and
Avas in the act of rising — '-Colonel Jack Hays." When
I pronounced this narae, his Avhole appearance and de
meanor changed, and if a loaded bombshell, with fuse
burning and sputtering, had fallen on that dinner-
table, a greater sensation Avould not have been caused.
The Mexican officers arose from their seats; standing
and motionless, they looked at me. Mrs. Santa Anna
turned very pale ; the General resuraed eating fruit,
with his gaze on the table ; Colonel Hays, gentleman
as he Avas, boAved politely and withdrew from the
room. Almost imraediately after his withdrawal the
Mexicans surraised what had been ray object, and,
headed by the General, carae pleasantly toward me
and said they were ready to raarch. I had time to
speak to Hays, and then raounted. Placing a com
pany on either side of the carriage (Avhich Avas
resisted by the Mexican escort commander until I

396 MEMOIRS OF A
made him give way), with Sergeant David G. Murray,
of Tilghman's Battery, and Sergeant William U.
Stuart, of the Twiggs Rifles, each carrying a United
States flag and riding at the head of each company,
opposite the carriage-doors, I gave the comraand
" Trot, march !" and we started at a swinging gait to
Jalapa. The escort of Mexicans Avas next, the car
riage and my remaining company closed the column.
As we approached the camp of the Texans, they were
seen on the stone fences on either side Avhich separated
their camp frora the road. There were several hun
dred of thera, and apparently as quiet as if at a carap-
meeting listening to a sermon ; Avith one of these
corapanies I was on very friendly terms, as they had
served Avith me ; and, knowing this, I galloped to the
head of the coluran, placing rayself in the middle of
the road just in front of the leading mules' heads.
The Mexicans had noAv taken the alarm, and pressed
forAvard; the drivers, there were two of them, Avhistled
aud cried their upas, upas, vociferously, the mules
took the alarm, and away Ave carae at a killing pace.
We were now araong the Texans ; not a sound to be
heard ; not a raotion perceptible ; there they Avere in
all raanner of postures on and about the stone fences.
At this raoraent I saw coming toward us a mounted
Texan riding in the raiddle of the road. I raade
right at him, struck the right side of his horse's
head with the flat of my sabre, he swerved, and we
were past horse and rider before either I ara sure Avas
aware of what was the matter. There was no tirae
for exclamation or explanation ; Ave Avere going at full
speed, and I drew one long breath when I saw the

31 A RYLAND VOLUNTEER. 397
steeples of Jalapa. The Texans had behaved with
great propriety, the Avell-disposed among thera check
ing even an utterance of what raight have been
deemed disrespectful, to one under the safeguard and
honor of our flag.'^
When we got to the garita, the General halted, and,
expressing a wish not to pass through the city. Cap
tain Tilghman's company was detailed to escort him
to Encerro, distant eight railes from Jalapa, and bid
ding us adieu, with a regret for having incommoded
us, the carriage, Avith its escort, proceeded to its des
tination by the road outside the city.
March 30. In company with Colonel Hughes and
most of our officers. Ave went by invitation to break
fast at 12 with General Santa Anna at his hacienda
of Encerro. The General received us kindly, and Ave
sat down to a sumptuous dejeimer a la fourchette. The
ex-President spoke Avith much feeling of the conduct
of the Mexican people toAvard him, and said that he
Avould never return until recalled by the nation. He
seeraed in good spirits to-day, and said it was his in-
* It gives me pleasure to record an instance of the chivalric
character of this regiment of Texans, with which I was unac
quainted at the time of the occurrences I have just related. Just
previous to his application for passports, Santa Anna had been
surprised by a body of cavalry in his hiding-place near Puebia,
and narrowly escaped with his life, leaving everything in his
rapid flight. All his personal effects, carriage, writing-desk,
money-chest, were captured, and the wardrobe of his wife.
Among these troops was the regiment of Texans led by Colonel
Jack Hays, who, without disturbing an article of the lady's ap
parel, sent the whole of it, under charge of some Mexicans, to be
delivered to Mrs. Santa Anna.

398 31EM0IRS OF A
tention to embark from Antigua for Jamaica, thence
to England.
After breakfast I accompanied him to an adjoining
roora, Avhere some half-dozen or more of his suite were
engaged writing ; at the head of the table, on an ele
vated seat, sat a fine-looking man, who Avas dressed
in a blue coat Avith brass buttons, Avhite vest and
pants. He Avas a native of Belgium; the others Avere
Mexicans, some in uniform, some in civilians' dress.
After a few words between the Belgian and the
General, the writers took fresh paper, Santa Anna com
menced Avalking sloAvly about the room, and I soon
understood hira to be dictating his farewell address
to the Mexican people. He spoke slowly and senten
tiously, the Belgian making occasional notes, the
others AA'riting rapidly. I left whilst the Avork Avas
going on, and I much regret not having seen this
address, if it Avere ever published.
After several hours pleasantly spent Avith the ladies
of the family, and several other guests, friends of
Santa Anna, Ave gave good-by to all, and in a feAv
days Santa Anna had left Mexico, Ave giving him
an escort to the ship's side in Avhich he sailed for
Antigua.

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 399

CHAPTER XXXIX.
A'lSIT TO THE CITY OF MEXICO.
Ajn-il 3, 1848. Colonel Hughes having official
business Avith the headquarters of the army. I accora
panied hira and Surgeon Stedman R. Tilghraan of
our regiraent, to the city of Mexico. With a raounted
escort, AA'e left Jalapa in the raorning, and reached Pe
rote, distant thirty-two railes, in the afternoon. Jalapa
being situated on the eastern edge of the first plain or
terrace which lies at the base of the Cordilleras, at
an elcA'ation of four thousand three hundred feet
aboA'e the sea-level, the road rises gradually, passing
throu2;h the A'illa2;es of .San Miguel, La Hova. and Las
Vigas, until Ave turn the northern end of the raountain
chain at Cruz Blanca, which is at an elevation of
seven thousand and forty-eight feet. The famous
landmark, El Cofre de Perote, Avhich rises to an alti
tude of twelve thousand feet, is on our left as Ave
folloAv the road at its base, which leads into Perote,
three leagues frora Cruz Blanca. I visited the castle,
(now in the coraraand of Lieutenant-Colonel Seyraour,
of the Georgia Battalion,) Avhich is a mile or so from the
tOAvn, and Avas less araazed at its strength than at its
location. Why the Spaniard expended several mil
lions of hard dollars on this immense fortress is a
mystery ; it coraraands nothing, being built on a plain
of several railes in extent, and if it was intended, as
sorae assert, for an arsenal, Avhy locate it on an arid

400 3IEM0IRS OF A
plain nearly destitute of water, and one hundred
miles from Vera Cruz, at which post the castle of San
Juan de LHloa was of sufficient capacity to hold all the
war material of Spain. It Avas called by our people the
graveyard of Mexico, its reputation for unhealthfulness
surpassing that of any other place in the country.*
At sunrise the next morning we left, and after pass
ing through several large haciendas,-}- reached the
town of Tepeyahualco, a miserable place, nearly
deserted, seven leagues from Perote ; our ride noAV
Avas over a sandy desert, Avith columns of sand moving
and whirled by the wind over the plain, like huge
water-spouts ; for a distance of twenty miles not a
vestige of vegetation Avas apparent, except the Agave
Americana, the raaguey, from Avhich the pulque is
made. We halted at the corral of Ojo de Agua, Avhich
means literally, " eye of water ;" this was a beautiful
spring of water gushing from the earth, around which
the corral had been erected. Distance from Perote
forty-tAvo miles, and in a south-westerly course.
April 5. Left Ojo de Agua at 5 o'clock a.m., just
as the peons (laborers) were going forth, to their
daily toil; there were several hundred of them, men,
women, and children, raoving in gangs, as I have seen
slaves on the cotton plantations of the south ; and
these poor creatures were, in all but the narae, held
* Except Camargo and the National Bridge.
f A hacienda is a large estate ; a rancho or ranch, a imiall
farm ; a corral signifies what the word caravansary does in the
east, a place of shelter for man and beast, within walls; it also
means a pen or pound for horses and cattle, and also, an inclosure
formed by an army or wagon-train for safety from attack.

3IA RYLAND VOLUNTEER. 401
to the same servitude. They AA'ere chanting, not sing
ing, a kind of hyran. which was as melodious as it
Avas melancholy; its tone Avas that of subdued grief,
of pa.ssive obedience to a fate beyond their power to
change, and a helpless subraission to a tyranny it Avas
irapossible to be freed frora. It raade a strong impres
sion upon me. I looked at the faces of raany of thera
as they passed ; each countenance Avas indicative of a
soul's sadness, each lineament portrayed the senti
ments I have endeavored to express aboA'e.
At 8 A.M. Ave got to Nopaluca, a small toAvn or
pueblo, situated at the crossing of the main road by
a road Avhich leads from Orizaba to a raore northern
route to the capital. Here Ave found ray friend Colo
nel Willis A. Gorraan, Avith his Indiana Regiraent and
sorae dragoons : our road, still going south-Avest,
passed the base of El Cerro del Pinar, Avhose summit
is nearly eight thousand feet above the sea-level, then
on to Amazourka, famous over the Avhole of Mexico
and Central America for its manufacture of steel spurs,
bridle-bits, and horse-ornaments ; we Avent through
several of the manufactories, and were pleased and a.s-
tonisbed at the skill und beauty of their AA'orkraanship.
We pushed on, and, considerably after nightfall,
reached the City of the Angels, known more generally
by the narae of Puebia, where, after rauch difficulty,
Ave found lodgings at a raeson.* Distance, forty-five
miles frora Ojo de Agua, and still in a south-
Avesterly course.
The words 3Ieson, Venta and Fonda, all raean hotel, or
rather, what we used to call in English, a tavern.
26

402 ME 310 IRS OF A
Puebia is at an altitude of six thousand seven hun
dred and fifty-six feet above the level of the sea,
nearly two thousand five hundred feet higher than
Jalapa. It is really a beautiful city, and the day I
passed here was one of enjoyraent. Situated in a fer
tile plain, with a population of .seventy thousand in
habitants, Avitli Avide, Avell-paved streets, a large cathe
dral, many imposing public edifices, and many of its
dAvelling houses ornamented in front Avith glazed
tiles representing scriptural and allegorical subjects,
it is no AVonder that the Mexicans regard it with so
rauch pride, and boast of it as being the City of the
Angels. This narae, however, was given it, I belicA'c,
because of its numerous churches, and the number
less sweet-toned bells, Avhich, even yet, attract the
population and the stranger to the portals of the con
vents, churches, and missions, Avith Avhich the city
abounds. The cathedral is A'ery rich in its property,
as well as in the gorgeous decorations of its interior —
its altars, shrines and chapels ; a chandelier, cele
brated for its magnificent Avorkmanship, hangs in the
church, Aveighing several tons, and which is said to
be mainly wrought frora gold and silver metal. The
Carmen convent, the San Franciscan, and the
Bishop's palace, are large piles of masonry, Avhich yet
attest the power and Avealth of a church that, in the
days of the Viceroys, sAvayed the destinies of the
Indias. We dined Avith Colonel Childs of the U. S.
Army, the commandant, Avho shoAved us the defenses,
made by him in his successful resistance against the
populace of the city and the array of Santa Anna,
Avheu besieged by thera ; and we visited with hira the

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 403
other raeraorable places in the city and vicinity. I
regretted not being able to go to Huaraantla, Avhich is
in the adjoining district of Tlascala, so well knoAvn for
the brave race of Indians Avho fought side by side with
Cortez in the first conquest of Mexico. This race is
nearly extinct, though I haA'e seen some of its caste.
April 7. Left Puebia and marched a due north-
Avest course to the pretty village of San Martin,
twenty-one railes frora Puebia. We breakfiisted at
the hacienda San Christobal, by the polite invitation
of the proprietor, Senor Savihon, Avho gave us au
entertainraent as abundant as it was in good taste.
There Avas butter on the table, the first I had seen
Avhich had been made in the country ; by a North
American this luxury Avas highly prized, and, being
depriA'ed for so long a time of its use, Ave made fear
ful inroads upon the dairy product of San Christobal.
A league from the toAvn Ave Avere at the corral Buena
Vista, Avhose name indicates the lovely vicAv of a val
ley unsurpassed in beauty — the famed Valley of San
Martin ; it rerainded me of a valley Avhich one day
Avill become celebrated, the MiddletoAvn Valley, be
tAveen Frederick and Hagerstown, Maryland. This
Valley of San Martin, though seven thousand tAA'o
hundred feet above the sea, is lu.xuriant beyond de
scription, producing not only the corn, Avheat, and
barley of the temperate zone, but pepper (chile),
beans (frijoles), banana, tobacco, coffee, and maguey
of the tropics ; its wheat flour makes the bread Avhich
rivals the Parisian baker's loaf, and its pulque is as
prized as the Lachryma Christi of Vesuvius.
Rising rapidly from the valley, Ave coraraence the

404 MEMOIRS OF A
ascent of the Sierra Madre, crowned by the once-seen,
never-to-be-forgotten mountains, Popocatapetl (the
smoking mountain) and Iztaccihuatl (the white wo
man), the one seventeen thousand eight hundred and
eighty-four feet, the other sixteen thousand feet, above
the sea. We Avere noAV surrounded by mountains
covered Avith eternal snow, but they were as pigmies
by the side of these two colossi of the Sierra Madre;
the crater of one receiA'ing the first kiss of the rising
sun, and the surarait of the other its parting rays, as
it sinks in the Avest. Called by the natives husband
and vffe, the traditions of the country are full of
the poetry of an imaginative people about these two
mountains : the one a A'olcano, of once frightful
eruptions, the other forever at rest in the gorgeous
grandeur of nature's dressing. There is a sublimity
and mystery round and about thera which irapresses
a traveller frora their first view, and the charm in
creases as you lessen the distance ; crossing the Sierra
at an elevation of ten thousand feet, the summit of
the White Woman on your left is so far and high up
in the heavens above you, with her robe of spotless
Avhite and her diadem of gilded sunset, that you con
tinue to gaze, for her beauties continue to increase,
until dimness of sight — or is it the darkness ? —
conceals her in its embrace.
Before reaching Rio Frio (the cold river) we passed
through an immense pine forest, and came to the little
hamlet Avhich takes its name from the river. It Avas
a miserable place, the night cold and dark, but Avhile
shivering in the unaccustomed temperature of the
frigid zone, Ave received an invitation to accept the hos-

31 A RYLAND VOLUNTEER. 405
pitality of Colonel Wm. Irvin. whose Ohio Regiraent of
Volunteers was stationed here. Distance frora Puebia
forty-tAvo railes, north-west course.
AprU S. We got an early start; at daylight Ave
saAV a gang of rough-looking, arraed Mexicans ap
proaching, Avhich caused us sorae uneasiness, as I am
quite confident there Avas not a soldier in our party
Avho could have used either sabre or pistol, Ave AA'ere
so benurabed Avith cold. Both parties halted ; after
a reconnaissance, Ave saw a train of pack-mules and
another gang of these ruffians escorting it; Ave learned,
after a brief parley, that they had been hired to guard
a specie train frora the city to Puebia. We passed
each other, and hailed the Avarmth of the rising sun
Avith unalloyed pleasure, as it restored to us the use
of our lirabs. At 8.30 a..\i. we caught our first vieAv
of the far-famed valley of Mexico, and, halting for
breakfast at the Venta de Cnrdova, twenty miles from
the city, we spent an hour in looking at the unrivaled
vicAV spread out before and beyond us. Passing bv
Lake Chalco and through the town of Ayotla, at 2
o'clock P.ii. Ave Avere up with the Peiion mountain,
an isolated mass of rock several hundred feet in
height, rising up frora the plain, at the base of Avhich
the road runs toward the city. Here was the first
exterior line of Mexican defenses to guard the approach
by the causeway, over which Ave rode for eight miles,
and entered the capital city of Mexico at 4 o'clock in
the afternoon. Distance from Rio Frio thirty miles.
Course, Avest to Lake Chalco, then north-Avest to the
city. Distance by my calculation, from Jalapa, one
hundred and ninety-one miles.

406 31EM0IRS OF A
CHAPTER XL.
THE CITY OF MEXICO.
Soon after our arrival we called to see Major-Gene
ral Scott, though etiquette required that our first visit
should be to Major-General Butler; our first duty, as
it Avas our pleasure, was to call on General Scott,
though he was not in coraraand, and neither Colonel
Hushes or I hesitated a moraent in telling General
Butler, Avhen we called on the sarae evening, that we
had been to see Scott.
Hughes was an old acquaintance and friend, so
that our reception Avas cordial and pleasant ; telling
hira our purpose to call on Major-General Butler, the
Comraander-in-chief, he invited us to corae after our
visit to sup Avith hira at 10 o'clock. We returned,
sat down to the first supper of the kind I had seen
in Mexico, cold roast foAvl and charapagne wine, and
spent one of the raost agreeable evenings of ray life.
The General Avas in excellent huraor ; jested about
his being superseded in coraraand, said he was an old,
broken-doAvn soldier, in disgrace, etc., and, observing
me looking at an object in the corner of the room
which had attracted my attention, he changed his
discourse, inquiring Avhat I saw. Without Avaiting
for a reply, he said, "Bring it to me." Leaving ray seat,
I Avent over to the corner, and took up what appesxred
to be a stick of round Avood, capped Avith brass at
either end ; noticing a brass plate, Avith an inscription,
attached to the middle of the log, I was about read-

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 407
ing it, Avhen he arose suddenly from his chair, and
took it from rae, saying, " What do you think this
is?" I made no reply, for I did not know what it Avas,
or AA'hat I should say. Holding the log at arra's
length from him, so that the light fell upon the plate,
he said, "This is ray spy-glass; read," and I read
that this Avas a portion of the "flag-staff of Chapulte-
pecf captured by the American Army, and presented
by General Scott to the United States Military Acad
emy at West Point.* This is about the substance of
Avhat Avas engraved on the plate, and Avhicli I read
Avith every nerve thrilling Avith a creeping sensation
impossible to describe. When he saAvthat I had read
the inscription, he rapidly reversed the stick, and
placing one end, as if it Avere an elongated spy-glass,
toward my eye, asked rae " Avhat I saw?" Without a
thought, I replied, " Glory !" Frora that raoment
General Scott and I were friends. I was a young
man, very fond of the profession of arms, and this
notice from so distinguished a soldier Avas inexpres,s-
ibly gratifying.
During the evening a gentleraan carae in hurriedly,
and told the General that a courier from Vera Cruz
had brouixht the astounding intelligence to the British
Legation that Louis Philippe, King of France, had
been driven frora his throne, by a rcA'olution in Paris.
This ncAvs becarae the therae of conversation, General
Scott saying that he Avas personally acquainted Avith
the king, etc.

¦¦'¦ As I was never at West Point, and never inquired, I do not
know whether this is there or not.

408 ME 310 IRS OF A
That night the French residents in the city para
ded in the main plaza, singing the Marseillaise, and
I rarely ever witnessed a scene of wilder riot and con
fusion ; there Avere twenty or thirty of these half-
crazy Frenchraen, Avho entered the different gambling
saloons, singing their songs and brandishing bottles
from which they Avere drinking without stint. As
the players did not like the interruption, I thought
once or twice that there would be a serious ending
to the frolic; finally, the party Avas induced to Avith
draw, but they kept the main-guard busy until
morning. April 9 — Sunday. Major Osborne Cross (of Mary
land), Quartermaster U. S. Array, had kindly invited
us to share his quarters while in the city. These
Avere in the principal street, the Calle de Plateros
(Street of the Silversmiths), not fiir frora the grand
square or main plaza. As the cathedral fronted this
square, our first visit Avas there, but before speaking
of it, I will try to give a general description of the
city. The mean elevation of the great valley of Mexico
is seven thousand five hundred feet, Avhile the moun
tain barrier Avhich encloses it will average ten thou-
sand feet above the sea-level, on the east, south, and
Avest sides. Its area is eighteen leagues, or forty-five
miles, in length, and twelve leagues, or thirty railes,
in Avidth, or tAvo hundred and forty-five square
leagues. There are five lakes in the valley, which cover an area
of a hundred square railes, with a depth of from eight
feet to several inches of Avater. When Cortez arrived

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 409
in 1520, these lakes were surrounded Avith nuraerous
populous villages, coraraunicating with each other by
canals supplied frora these lakes, and in the centre
of the largest lake, Tezcuco, Avas built the capital
city of the Aztecs, called Tenochtitlan. The city Avas
reached frora the shores of the lake by Avell-constructed
causcAvays, Avhich Avere intersected by canals for the
passage of boats; by Avhich also the neighboring
populations approached the capital for coramerce or
religious duty.
The present city of Mexico Avas built upon the site
of the ancient Tenochtitlan, and amidst its ruins;
but the lake no longer surrounds the city, it has
been filled by the destruction of the old city, and the
gradual evaporation of its Avaters has dirainished its
size, so that, unlike Venice, the Avater no longer occu
pies the place, nor is used for thoroughfares in the
city. Nevertheless, as in the days of Cortez, the
Indians corae to the capital of the conquerors as their
ancestors, in boats, frora the neighboring shores of
Chalco, Xochimilco, and San Christobal, the waters
of Avhose lakes comraunicate Avith those of Tezcuco.
The causeway by which Ave entered the city is the
sarae that was in existence at the tirae of the con
quest, but instead of passing through and over a lake,
there are dry patches of earth and edifices where there
Avas forraerly water, except at intervals, Avhich are
fringed Avith the Avaters of Chalco and Tezcuco. The
Lake of Tezcuco, being the lowest and the most south
erly, receives the waters of the northern lakes, and,
there being no outlet, it occasionally overflows its banks
Avhen flooded in the rainy season, inundating the city

410 MEMOIRS OF A
of Mexico to the depth of several feet Were it not
for the rapid evaporation, OAving to the great altitude
of these waters, there Avould yet be serious cause for
alarm, that the modern, like the ancient city, Avould
be in the midst of the Avaters. There have been
several attempts to provide against such a fate by
constructing a desagua, and it is related that upon
several occasions, Avhen the valley Avas in danger of
being submerged, the earth Avas split open by earth
quakes, and the waters escaped through the fissures.
The raodern city of Mexico is as regularly laid out
as Philadelphia, with blocks or squares of large
stately-looking stone houses, capacious streets, showy
and attractive shops, and, Avere it not for the flat level
upon Avhich it is built, Avould be a handsorae city.
There is ahvays a large concourse of people moving
through its raain streets and grand square ; and its
alaraeda, or public square, and its paseos, or public
Avalks, are thronged during the day and evening, Avith
a raotley croAvd of all classes sauntering in shade or
sunshine, in light or darkness, as the humor or taste
suggests. The great centre of the city is the grand square,
upon Avhich fronts the cathedral, the President's palace,
the public buildings, and the richest shops of the
metropolis. It is a large open space Avorthy of a
large city; nothing contracted about it; paved with
square flag-stones, regularly and artistically disposed,
and radiating frora the outer liraits to a circular space
in the middle, Avhere it is designed to erect a raonu
ment coraraemorative of the independence of the
country frora Spain.

31A RYLAND VOLUNTEER. ^\\
The cathedral occupies the site of the teraple so
famous in the history of the conquest; its chief at
traction to me Avas the Galendario Azteca, or Mexican
calendar, Avhich has been placed in its Avestern Avail near
the anole forraed bv that and the raain front of the edi-
fice. This stone, or basaltic rock, exquisitely and elab
orately carved, is the raost interesting object of an
tiquity on the North Araerican continent; in size it
is thirteen and a half feet by thirteen and a half feet,
Aveighs forty-eight thousand tAvo hundred and seventy-
five pounds, and upon its face is sculptured the sun
in its four seasons, movimientos. represented by the god
Tonatiuh, Avith open raouth and extended tongue to
picture the flight of time. This huge face of the sun,
or god. is surrounded by several circles filled Avith
hieroglyphics, expressive of the division of the days and
nights by the reA'olution of the earth on its axis ; of
the days of the month; of the signs of the zodiac,
and the nuraber of days in the year. Upon the stone
is also delineated the great feasts celebrated at the
solstices and equinoxes, as, like the Egyptians, and
subsequently the Israelites, the feasts were celebrated
at the tirae of these celestial phenomena by the Tol-
tecs and the Aztecs. The stone Avas found sorae feet
below the surface of the raain plaza in front of the
cathedral in the year 1790, and was most judiciously
preserA'ed by being built in the existing wall of the
church. There Avere observed upon its face on the
outer edge several small holes. The Mexican savants
judged the use of these; by placing wooden pegs in
thera and stretching strings over and above the sur
face of the calendar, the raeridian was accurately

412 3IE3I0IRS OF A
marked upon the face at noon, and other most inter
esting astronomical observations made upon the stone.
They reached the conclusion, that a people Avho regu
lated their religious festivals by the movements of the
heavenly bodies, and sculptured their historic deeds
upon a public monument such as this, had attained
a high degree of civilization, and shoAved by their art
and knowledge of astronomy a close analogy betAveen
the peoples of Asia and America. By placing this
stone vertically on a horizontal plane, with the face
to the south and fronting a line drawn due east and
west, it Avas demonstrated that the artificers, or those
who superintended its construction, Avere well ac
quainted Avith all the principal celestial moveraents,
and had added to their division of the year into days
even the nuraber of intercalary days, to preserve the
equation of tirae.
The cathedral church, outside and inside, is worthy
the raetropolitan see of the first city of the Hispano-
Americans; you may measure its wealth of interior
church adornments by its exterior size, four hundred
feet front by five hundred feet in depth. We wand
ered through its raaze of colurans and chapels, through
its atraosphere of incense and amid its altars and
paintings, its gold and silver vessels and figures, Avith
uncertain steps and undefined impressions. While all
Avas gorgeous and rich, you trod upon uneven or sliding
planks beneath you, which alone separated your feet
frora the dust and ashes of the graves beneath, Avhich
sraelled of earth, earthy.
That which raost excited my attention in the cathe
dral Avas a railing several hundred feet in length, the

3IA RYLAND VOLUNTEER. 4]3
rails of which Avere at least three feet high, all of
which, rails and balusters, top and bottom, inside
and outside, Avere made of gold and silver metal ;
AA'ithin this railing approach Avas had to the sanctuary,
Avithin Avhich Avas an image of the Virgin Mary,
dressed Avith brilliants, Avhose value is estimated by
raillions of dollars.
What a comraentarA- this Avealth was upon the
character of our army ! nothing Avhatever between it
and sequestration, but the honor of a nation, Avhich
waged this Avar, not for pillage, but for a peace Avhich
Avould redress the Avrongs done our citizens and give
us corapensation for losses occasioned thereby.
The eastern front of the square is flanked by the
National Palace, a long line of not very shoAvy build-
ins's, vet imposing from their sreat lencth and uni-
formity of appearance. These Avere, Avhen Mexico
was a province of Spain, the residence of the Vice
roys, and in republican days the Executive Mansion
and halls of Congress ; uoav, they are the headquarters
of the Araerican army, and the barracks of the main-
guard of the city. Here is noAv sitting the court of
inquiry, convened by order of the President of the
United States, to inquire into the differences Avhich
unfortunately arose between Major-Generals Scott,
Worth, and PilloAV. after the fall of the city, and the
publication of the official reports in relation thereto.
I have never Avitnessed a court Avhose proceedings
Avere raarked by more dignity and decorum than
characterized this high military tribunal. I attended
several of its sittings, Avhich Avere deeply interesting,
frora the eminence of those Avho participated in the

414 3IEM0IRS OF A
events Avhich Avere the subject of the evidence ad
duced, and Avhose presence at the trial table, with their
respective staffs, added Aveight to the prominence of
the grave questions under discussion.
Military law and usage found able exponents araong
the experienced soldiers present, and Avhen such
officers as Major-General Worth gave their testimony
as to the strategy or tactics of certain movements
the evidence Avas listened to Avith profound attention.
Large numbers of officers of the army occupied the
court-room and galleries, groups of Mexican officials
Avere noticeable, Avhile nurabers of Mexican officers,
prisoners of war, passed aAvay their tirae quietly
listening to the proceeding.s, Avhich they could not
understand, but closely scanning the appearance and
deraeanor of the dramatis personse.
The south side of the square was the building de
voted to municipal purpo.ses, and on the west the old
palace of Cortez, still belonging to his faraily, now in
its lower stories filled with shops, before Avhich a por
tico forms, I think, the most attractiA'e part of the
city. This portico is ten or fifteen feet Avide, arched,
and covered Avith the second story of the long pile of
buildings. It opens on the grand square, toward Avhicli
the front AvindoAvs of the shops expose their Avares,
and is the select promenade of the ladies, who manage
to do a little shopping even in war times. There
Avere large croAvds of well-dressed people circulating
along this portico for several hours of raid-day, and
this, with looking in the shop AvindoAvs, made the place
a favorite resort of raine. It Avas much larger and
more unique in its appearance and in the character of

31 A RYLAND VOLUNTEER. 415
its raerchandi.se exposed for sale, than the galerie
cV Orleans in the old Talais Royal at Paris.
I Avas chiefly to be found, however, at the National
Museum, in the uniA'ersity building, not far frora the
Plaza Mayor. It Avill repay any archaeologist or
antiquarian to visit the city of Mexico, by an exam
ination of the interesting relics of an age and a peo
ple UOAV unknown, Avhich may be found about this
building, in its galleries, courtyards, cellars, and gar
rets, for all is in confusion, as all is Avonderful and
strangely attractive to the imagination and the senses.
Here is the sacrificial stone as Avhen it Avas thrown
doAvn by the Spaniards frora the surarait of the Teo-
calli, Avhile the red blood of their countrA-men, sacri
ficed a feAV nights previously, still added its stain to
the countless rivulets Avliich had flowed down the
side, until the Avhole place .smelt like a slaughter-house,
as described by Bernal Diaz. Here is the stone yoke
Avhich Avas placed over the neck Avhilst the villains
tore the heart uut from the breast of the murdered
victim ; here the groove doAvn which the blood ran,
and here the obsidian knives Avith Avhich the priests
made the incision betAveen the ribs. Here are idols,
and there the huge basaltic block carved into the
grotesque and yet grand image of Huitzilopuxtli, the
god of Avar. Here the face of the mysterious Quet-
zalcoatl, the god of the air. Avhich you will not pass
Avithout its attracting more than a casual glance;
there is soraething in its expression that rivets your
attention. Here a painting of a Mexican emperor in
the council of kings, and there the coronation of
Yxtlixochitl by the high-priest Taratzintin 1415. Here

416 3IEM0IRS OF A
a painting of the array of Cortez, painted by the en
voys sent by Montezuraa for this purpose, and show
ing the effect produced upon them at first hearing
a discharge of firearms ; and here is another, painted
by the same artists, of the tent in Avhich, and the
appearance of, Cortez Avhen he received the presents
sent him by Montezuraa. Battles between the naked
Indians, armed Avith sword, spear, and shield, are
graphically represented, as the iron-plated, half-
centaur warrior of old Spain slaughtered them, Avith
the destructive and unseen missiles sent by heaven
from the raouthsof fiery serpents. Here are hundreds
of square feet of hieroglyphic writing on maguey
paper, as plain as when Avritten hundreds of years
ago, to record the daily marches of the Aztecs in their
long pilgriraage. Here is a hieroglyphic delineation
of the deluge and the confusion of languages, and
here a genealogical tree of the Aztec farailv, mount-
ing to the first couple (they go back to our first
parents) ; here are the musical instruments, curiously
Avrought, mingled with the boAV and the arrow, the
SAvord and shield of the Avarrior ; here a portrait of
Zitlalpopoca, a senator of Tlascala; there the sad and
handsome face of Montezuraa; here the arraor of
Cortez, there the portrait of Don Diego de Almagro;
here Pedro de Alvarado, there Diego de Ordaz ; here
Fr. Bartolome de las Casas, there Fr. Bernardino de
Sahagun. In the courtyard is the very fine eques
trian statue of Cliarles IV. of Spain, by Tolsa, a
Mexican artist ; here are also several huge idols and
feathered serpents grotesquely carved in stone, Avhich
Avill give a better idea of idolatrous worship than
tomes of description.

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 4^7
The rauseum contains numberless little things
Avhich the curiosity-hunter loves more than gold; .and
to such I say, you have a pleasure in store, if you
have not seen the mu.seuni in the city of Mexico.
Read and read again the charming history of the
conquest by William H. Prescott ; then read the ex
planation of the ancient history of Mexico, by Isidro
R. Gondra, it being the introduction to Prescott's his
tory translated into Spanish, by Ignacio Cumplido.
As in all Spanish cities, there are public Avalks, or
paseos, and an alaraeda, Avhich corresponds with the
English parks or the public .squares of the Araerican
cities. The Paseo Nuevo is at the Avestern, the Paseo
de la Viga at the eastern, end of the city. Both are
alike broad avenues for equestrians, Avith narrower
ones for pedestrians, — planted Avith stately trees,
adorned Avith fountains, plentifully supplied Avith
seats corafortably located. The Mexican population
of all ranks and conditions frequent these airj- and pic
turesque walks to indulge in the luxuries of idleness
and sight-seeing. It is delightful to sit and look at
the handsorae equipages, the tastefully-dressed ladies,
the excellent horseraanship of the caballeros, the
proud Don in his mantle and the poor lepero in
his blanket, passing in crowds, like a spectacle on
theatrical boards ; but nothing charmed me so much
as to see the Indian girls, crowned Avith wreaths of
roses, as they danced in their boats, returning from
the city to their horaes on the shores of Lake Chalco,
by the canal which runs for a long distance alongside
the Paseo de la Viga. This sight, as historic as ro
raantic, brought to raeraory the sarae scenes, related

418 3IE310IRS OF A
Avith so much pleasure by the companions of Cortez
as so attractive when seen by them on their first
entrance into the valley of Mexico. I have no doubt
that the songs the girls were noAV singing, and to
which the dance kept cadence, were the same which
allured the soldiers of Spain, and which kept the
hardy warriors in these Elysian fields of the New
World. There was but little gold, plenty of hard
bloAvs; and a soldier must think that there were other
attractions, besides the destruction of idols and the
elevation of the cross, to the bold adventurers Avho
climbed the sierras of this far-distant land and Avho
planted the banner of Castile and Leon amid the
ruins of the Aztec dynasty. Boat-load after boat-load
of girls passed along this canal, as happy in their
innocent raerriinent as if their parents had never
kiiOAvn sorrow and the future Avould prove a dream
of the present. Differing from all other Mexican
songs I had heard, there was no melancholy Avhat
ever in the music, as there Avas none in the manner or
tone of the singers. Coraing from a district, Xochi
milco, known in their language as the land of fiowers.
these artless children uf nature mingled Avith the
perfume of roses their melodious voices, in unconscious
thanksgiving to the Almighty Creator of heaven and
earth, as the bird Avarbles its praise, as the floAver
sends forth its fragrance.
There was one other place in the city of Mexico I
liked to visit, and this was the Monte de Piedad, or
paAvnbroker's shop. Here were gathered the most
bizarre articles, from the tirae of the conquest to the
present day. Next to the museum, here were to be

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 4^9
seen such curiosities as could be found noAvhore else, —
no, not in the broad world. It Avould not be saying too
much that there are articles in this pawnbroker's
establishment, that look as if they had been pledged
by the companions of the Cid or the followers of
Cortez. The offerings of all ages and all countries,
of all sexes and conditions, seem to have been pro
miscuously heaped about this grand altar to the
penury of mankind. Here, in this mountain-locked
region, thousands of miles from the great world, haA'e
drifted and lodged the fragments of Avreck scattered
o'er the ocean of distress by the storms of life, until,
mouldering away, their dust repeats the language of
Solomon, "Vanity of vanities, — all is vanity!"
There was, indeed, pride as Avell as vanity in a
pair of earrings which e.xcited ray adrairation : they
represented a pair of pea-foAvl ; the bodies, half an
inch long, Avere formed of pure brilliants, the necks
of small rose diaraonds, topaz, and eraerald, the tail-
feathers, a little more than half an inch in length, of
sapphires, rubies, and emeralds, all exquisitely set, and
glistening Avith the unrivaled colors of these precious
stones. I had the temerity to price thera. Eighthundred
dollars, and muy barato (very cheap), was the reply.
We called to see Major-Generals Worth and Patter
son, and Brigadier-General Persifer F. Sraith, the
military commandant of the city, by each of Avhom
we were kindly received and hospitably entertained.
We attended guard-raount in the grand square, and
were present at several drills of the division of reg
ulars. We promenaded the portales, the paseos, the
alaraeda, visited the mint, the aqueducts (Avhich

420 3IE310IRS OF A
bring fresh water frora the hills into the city), the
citadel, the convent of La Merced, and the quarters
of the canaille of Mexico, — the leperos, as bad a
looking class of raen as one Avould Avish to avoid.
We also visited the church of the Virgin of Guada
lupe, in the village of Guadalupe Hidalgo, three railes
north of the city. It Avas here, that the Avell-knoAvn
picture of the Virgin of Guadalupe is said to have
been miraculously painted on the blanket of an Indian,
and Avhich has given to its cathedral church a high
reputation for sanctity over all Mexico. The narae
of Guadalupe is so entirely Mexican that it Avas a
pleasure to be at the horae of its nativity, and I
visited the church Avith respect, if not Avith faith, to
look upon the rairacle as it is now shoAvn to the
public. There is a fountain adjoining the church,
and carefully guarded, whose bubbling and muddy
Avaters deposit a sediment, which, collected in a matrix
at the bottora, giA'es a representation of the picture of
the Virgin on the blanket, as seen by the Indian on
this hill-top, the site of the church. I Avitnessed the
manner of formation, and possessed myself of one
of these casts as a memorial of a visit long to be
remerabered. Honored by an invitation frora General Worth, Ave
accorapanied hira over the battle-fields of the vallej'.
Leaving the city by the garita of San Antonio, Ave
followed the causeway through Churubusco and San
Antonio to San Augustin. Crossing the Pedregal by
the route over Avhicli our troops marched on the 19th
of August, Ave reached the point at which Captains
John B. Magruder and Franklin D. Callender planted

3IARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 42I
their guns and received the fire of the twenty-two
pieces of Mexican artillery from Valencia's intrenched
camp. We admired the daring and skill of our artiller
ists, and wondered that anything had been left of
men, horses, or material in this unequal contest. The
courage which brought the American guns here
araounted to rashness; 3'et its result tended to in
crease the self-sufficiency of Valencia and keep him
Avithin the lines he had been twice ordered, to leave.
Crossing the ravine to Contreras, we next followed
the road to San Angel, passing the fields Avithin Avliich
Santa Anna unaccountably (to us) held his reserves
on the 19th and carae up to the lines of Churubusco.
These raust be seen to appreciate the obstacles that
were oA'ercoine by the gallantry and steadiness of the
Araerican troops. The couA'ent is a fortress, the
tete du 'po7it an elaborate fortification, and the river
a natural defense, from Avhich troops should not have
been driven.
I listened and looked, and Avas silent ; for the Avhole
success of these operations Avas mysterious.
Out of eight thousand four hundred and ninety-seven
Americans engaged, one thousand and fourteen fell
killed and Avounded here and at Contreras: this Avill
give an idea that the Mexicans fought aa'cII ; but hoAv
and why fifteen thousand armed men fled from such
a position is mysterious.
We next Avent frora Piedad, through Tacubaya, to
Molino del Rey. There was not rauch said, but a
great deal Avas noticed, on this field. Fronting the
mill, and looking over ray left shoulder, there was the
lone fortress, forever memorable as the Casa Mata; in

422 MEMOIRS OF A
its front the dry ditch and maguey bushes from which
the stream of fatal fire was poured upon the front and
flanks of the Americans;* and here on this narrow field
the blood of the flower of our army moistened the-
Mexican soil. General Worth led his division three
thousand tAvo hundred and fifty-one strong into this
battle; he left seven hundred and eighty one of these
killed and Avounded, to mark the victory Avon by the
individuj^l gallantry of the officers and men of the
regular army of the United States.
It was the most desperately contested battle of the
Avar, and was the proximate cause of much ill feeling
among officers of high rank.
Going through the mill-building and adjacent
grounds, we approached and entered the cypress-
grove at the base of Chapultepec. This grove of
tree.s — so old that the raemory of man and the tra
ditions of a race run not to the contrary — seems
to haA-e groAvn, for a Druidical order of priesthood.
There is solemnity and priestcraft in every trunk,
mystery in every rustle of a branch, dark and hidden
Avays in the sombre gloom of its shade. High up,
isolated and grand, the rock of Chapultepec shoots
* Brevet-ilajor Daniel H. McPhail, a native of the city of Bal
tiraore, and a gallant officer of tbe United States Armv, com-
iiiarided a company of the .5tb U. S. Infantry in the attack upon
tbe Casa ^Nlata. His uniforra coat evidenced and illustrated the
character of the fire to which the troops were exposed: one
bullet passed through it from the front, and another, striking near
the right shoulder of tbe coat, passed entirely across the back
and raade its exit at the left 'ihoulder. He providentiallv escaped
without a wound

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 423
into the heavens : made by nature for a temple, idol
aters may be excused for using it as such, soldiers
pardoned for raaking it a fortress. It is noAV a fortress;
and as the military colleti'e of the Republic of Mexico,
it Avitnessed a brave defense made by professors and
cadets, Avith the best DiA'ision of its array, on the 13th
of Septeraber, 1847; but it fell, and Avith it the last
hope of patriotic Mexicans. Yet they fought; and,
descending the hillside, Ave continued along the line
of their retreat, by the a([ueduct, to the San Cosrae
garita, and halted at the building occupied by General
Worth, when he entered the city, on the night of the
13th of September, 1847.
Going frora here by the Avay of the alaraeda and
the citadel, Ave Avere at the Belen garita, Avhere Gen
eral Quitman so heroically held the position he had
gained after his hard fighting on the Tacubaya cause
way, and Avbere, fortifying himself on the night of
the 13 th, he first learned that the Mexicans Avere
eA'acuating the city.
Under no raore favorable circurastances could Ave
have gone OA^er these fields, and we felt under great
oblia'ations to General Worth for the knoAvledge and
instruction it had been our good fortune this day to
receive. While in the city there was an earthquake felt,
which was so alarraing that large nurabers of the
people rushed through the streets to the raain plaza,
Avhere on their knees sorae gave vent to paroxysms of
prayer and terror. It Avas an exciting time, and we
Avent into the square, as it Avas considered the safest
place. I noticed that there Avas no disposition on the

424 MEMOIRS OF A
part of any one to smile at the terror of others.
There were two distinct shocks, one of them sufficiently
strong to make a mantel-clock in our room lean for
Avard considerably frora its original perpendicular
position. During the day I Avas shown a church-
toAver, in which a fissure tAventy or thirty feet long,
and frora half an inch to an inch in Avidth, had been
caused by the second shock of the morning, and it
was said that a little raore heaving of the earth would
have toppled over every steeple of the capital. It
Avas a very unpleasant sensation Avhile it lasted, and
I had no desire to experience another.
We also had a horse-race, Avhich Avas attended by
every officer and soldier that could get to the grounds,
outside the city. There Avere raany Mexicans present,
and the occasion which caused such an assemblage,
presided over as it Avas by the Coram.ander-in-chief of
the arniA', Avas celebrated Avith all the eclat of a Derby
or a St. Leger.
The captain of our escort had brought with him a
horse which had Avon the raoney of both Mexican and
American horse-fanciers at Jalapa. The captain had
had much experience in racing in Texas, as well as
Mexico; he Avas a natural born horse-jockey, and
boasted of having learned horse-taming from the Co
manches. Warily he had been making inquiry, and
had gotten up a match between his horse and a fast
horse of one of the Valley officers ; Ave Avere confiden
tially advised that Ave could safely bet upon onr
horse. As the time for the starting approached, our
excitement increa.sed, and every man of our party
Avagered raoney on the result. We took so much in-

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 425
terest in the race that the judges upon the stand invi
ted several of us into that august presence. The time
Avas bloAvn from a bugle, the horses Avere brought to the
starting-pole, the Avord was given, and away they went,
the Jalapa horse ahead. Alas! and alas! he broke
doAvn, and was distanced, shamefully beaten. Unused
to exertion at this great altitude, the extreme rarity
of the air had exhausted his powers before the race
Avas fairly begun, and our captain, looking upon the
distressed and heaving flanks of his poor beast, ex
claimed, "As big a fool as I ought not to oavu so good
a horse. ' We lost our money, but Ave gained its value
in experience, — never to depend upon a horse's bottora
Avhen the horse has not been trained to the climate,
in Avhich it is to be tested.*
We heard but little frora our Captain on the home
Avard march about his experience in horse raatters in
Texas and the Tierra Caliente. He had been com
pletely whipped.
A fcAV AVords about peace. As near as Ave Avere to
headquarters, Ave could learn but little raore than Ave
kneAV at Jalapa. The senior officers of the array be
lieved that Ave would have peace before long; this
was the opinion of a raajority of the officers ; there
* We had all suffered more or less from difficulty of breath
ing, sore throat, and dizziness, yet not one of us had had the
judgment to think of the horse : though ice found it difficult to
make undue exertion, as to ascend a flight of stairs, without
several halts to recover breath, we had permitted our horse to
run a race without a thought of his powers of endurance. All
this was so well knowu, that in more instances than one those
who had won tendered the raoney back to the losers of our party.

426 ME310IRS OF A
were others who thought differently. My own opinion
Avas, from all I could hear, read, and see, that there
Avould be no treaty made before the end of the armi
stice, Avhich would terminate June 2, and then, if
nothing favorable turned up for the Mexicans, their
Congress Avould seriously look to the ratification of a
treaty of peace ; not before.
We all feared that it Avould be irapossible to leave
the country before October or Noveraber.
On the 18th I dined at the Gran Sociedad with my
old friend of the Tierra Caliente, Captain John Ber
nand, courier of the British Embassy; he was thor
oughly au courant Avith the ncAvs and gossip of the
capital, and it is quite likely the above vieAvs Avere
chiefly draAvn from him. We parted Avith mutual re
grets, and indulged the hope of meeting again at
London or Washington, to talk over our incidents at
the Xational Brid2;e and alons? the Antiirua.
On the 19th our party dined Avith General Worth ;
and now, after a stay of tAvelve days, having exhausted
our leave, and, I rauch feared, the patience of our hosts,
Ave prepared to leave the city of Mexico on the morroAv,
to return to our own post and our oavu duties.
We left the city of Mexico at noon on the 20th of
April, and rode to the Venta de Cordova, Avhere Ave
reraained all night. With a beautiful moonlight we
left next morning, crossed the sierra six miles beyond,
and, descending rapidly, for it Avas A'erv cold, Ave got
to Rio Frio at 8 a.m.; by 3 p.m. Ave Avere at San Mar
tin, and halted for the night at the hacienda or corral
of San Bartolo, distant from Cordova thirty-three miles.
Ajrril 22. Before daylight Ave Avere on our march.

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 427
and still in this lovely Valley of San Martin. On
reaching the Casa de Diligencias, called Prieto, we
procured a guide and started to visit the pyramid of
Cholula, sorae three leagues distant. At ten o'clock
Ave Avere in the village of Cholula, a pueblo of a fcAV
thousand inhabitants. At the tirae Avhen Cortez
Avas here, in 1520, there Avas a city on the present site,
of the same name, Avhich, in a letter Avritten to the
Eraperor Charles V., he described as being as large
as any city of Spain, and Avith as large a population.
It Avas at that tirae regarded as a sacred city, and on
these plains there existed a raighty population. On
the pyraraid, now in sight, Avas the chief temple of a
nation Avhose mythology is believed to be more ancient
than that of Greece, and in this temple was the altar
to Quetzalcoatl (god of the Aviiid, or air), Avhose his
tory belongs to the golden age of the Indian race of
America. This Avord Quetzalcoatl signifies a " ser
pent with green plumage ; ' yet so mysterious is all
connected with the god, that he Avas represented Avith
a Avhite face and Avith a beard. He Avas the ureat hio;h-
priest of Tula ; he founded colonies ; Avould tolerate
no sacrifices but those of fruits and flowers ; estab
lished religious orders ; was so great a friend of peace
that he stopped his ears Avhen they talked of Avar,
and finally disappeared, to the great grief of his Avor-
shipers, Avho yet aAvait his return, and Avho, it is said,
secretly Avorship the god of their fathers, in the pres
ent temple of Christian Avorship which has replaced
the temple of the lost Quetzalcoatl.
I ascended this pyraraid, Avhose sides face lines
running due north and south, east and west ; it is

428 ME310IRS OF A
upwards of two hundred feet high, rising by four
successive terraces from a base of more than a thou
sand feet square; built mainly of sun-dried brick-
adobes, and covered apparently with earth, giving
support to the seed, Avafted hither by the winds or
brought by birds. The bushes and the trees growing
in its soil hinder and obstruct a clear vieAV of its
shape and beauty. The platform on the summit of
this pyraraid is about tAvo hundred feet square, and
here Baron Humboldt raade raany astronoraical ob
servations. The teraple of the Indian has given
place to the church of the Christian, and the chapel,
surrounded by cypress groAving luxuriantly on this
high terrace, is dedicated to the Seiiora de los Reme-
dios, our Lady of Reraedies.
I do not Avonder that Humboldt Avrote so enthusias
tically of the view frora this spot. He says " that
you can enjoy the sight, at the sarae tirae, of three
raountains, each higher than Mont Blanc, viz.: Popo
catepetl, Iztaccihuatl, and the Peak of Orizaba (two
of Avhich are known to be volcanoes), Avithout counting
the Sierra of Tlascala, around Avhose summit the
hurricanes are now forming."
It is a grand vieAv ; and Avhen this plain of Cholula
Avas filled with four hundred villages, each teeming
Avith population, and the sacred city at its ba.se a
living swarm of priests and attendants, those Avho
stood on this apex must have been beAvildered Avith
the raultitude of objects that passed before the vision.
There is no tradition, rauch less history, that gives
the slightest clue when, or by Avhom, this pyraraid
Avas constructed, and there are no ruins on the Araeri-

31 A RYLAND VOLUNTEER. 499
can continent at all comparable to it or more Avorthy
the research of the historian or the exaraination of
the archseologist and antiquary.
Sorae Mexican Avriters have drawn very cleverly
an analogy between this construction and the remains
on the plain of Babylon in As.syria. They have
noticed that Avhile this is a truncated pyraraid, rising
by terraces, so Avere those of Babel and Nineveh ;
that this, with half the elevation of the great pyra
mid of Cheops in Egypt, has double its extent of ba.se.
I have read also a costly and interesting Avork Avritten
by an English gentleman named Jones (Avhose Chris
tian name I regret to have forgotten), on the ruins of
Central America, Avho made the discovery that all
these constructions Avere totally unlike those of Egypt,
in their being terraces and not pyramids, yet of pyra
midal forra : his opinion Avas that the ruins of Yucatan
Avere of Phoenician origin, that the ships of Tyre and
Sidon had brought hither colonists, as they had landed
thera at Carthage, at Marseilles, in Britain, and else
where. My own opinion is that whoever finds the key to
the history of the people Avho built the pyraraid of
Cholula, and who dAvelt on its plains, aa-IU find the
history of the race that built Palenque, Uxraal, and
the other cities of Central America. I do not at all
agree Avith the general current of opinion that the
Toltecs, the Aztecs, and other races of Avhich we
know a little, came frora the north : far from it ; there
is not a trait in coraraon betAveen their descendants
and those from knoAvn northern hives. It has been
a subject of reflection Avith me, the present configura-

430 ME310IRS OF A
tion of the two continents; and, as I have never met
Avith the idea, I throAV this out for the investigation of
geographers and the curious. Look at the map of the
world on Mercator's projection. See Cape San Roque,
an extreme western projection of Brazil, in South
America, throwing out its proraontory toAvard the
African coast; look at the coraparatively narroAv
Atlantic Ocean betAveen these two lands, the one of the
Avestern, the other of the eastern continent, and then
look iiorthAvard and southward at the iraraensity of
the volume of Avater; the conclusion is irresistible to
ray mind that the two continents Avere one, that here
the waters of the one or the other pole had cleft in
tAvain the earth frora some unwonted disturbance of
its equilibrium, and that the inhabitants of Mexico,
the races of Avhom we have been speaking, are of
Asiatic origin; that the Aztec hieroglyphics depict the
deluge recorded in the Bible, and their genealogy their
descent frora Adara.
After gathering a few sraall idols* of baked clay,
by digging among the debris, we rode over the plain
to Puebia, Avhose spires were in sight, distant eight
miles due east.
April 23. This being Sunday, Ave remained at
Puebia, entered once more the cathedral, and my
recent visit to Cholula seemed to impart additional
interest to my observation of the people who thronged
its aisles and who Avorshiped at its altars. After

* All through the pyramid, as far as excavations have been
made, these idols are found, having been evidently thrown in
during its erection.

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 43I
dining with Colonel Childs, Ave rode Avith him over
the paseo, and again enjoyed the pleasure of vieAving
this gay and handsorae capital in its holiday dress
and favorite promenade.
We left Puebia on the morning of the 24th, and
arrived at Jalapa the night of the 26th, after an ab
sence of twenty-three days.
During our absence, Lieutenant-Colonel William
H. Emory, of the Topographical Engineers, joined
our regiment, having been appointed by President
Polk. This gallant and accomplished officer gave to
the regiment the benefit of his skill and experience
by zealous efforts in its drill and instruction. He was
successful in adding increased efficiency to the com
mand and in Avinning the confidence and esteem of
us all. From first to last, my relations Avith him, as
they had been Avith Colonel Hughes, Avere intimate
and friendly. He remained with the regiment until
its final discharge at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.

CHAPTER XLL
THE COURT OF INQUIRY.
While a nominal governraent was struggling into
existence over distracted Mexico, a serious misunder
standing had arisen betAveen Generals Scott, Worth,
and Pillow, at the city of Mexico. The trouble had
its origin in the several official reports of the Valley
campaign, made by the General-in-chief and his Lieu-

432 MEMOIRS OF A
tenants. There were alleged errors and mistakes
in detail and in substance, in essential and non
essential particulars, in these reports of the oper
ations of the American army in the series of battles
Avhicli led to the capture of the eneray's capital,
which provoked a correspondence betAveen the gene
rals above naraed, and the issue of General Order
" No. 349" by General Scott, that reflected severely
upon several of the most distinguished soldiers, and
caused intense feeling throughout the entire army.
The iraraediate cause of the proraulgation of this
memorable "Order No. 349" Avas the publication of
a letter, signed Leonidcu, in the NeAv Orleans papers,
and subsequently published at Tampico and Mexico.
This led to the arrest of several officers, and personal
quarrels betAveen those highest in rank, and Avould
have, in any other than the American array, shattered
it into bloody fragraents. I sometimes thought that
the picture Avhich Avas presented to our eyes by the
condition .of Mexico, raainly the result of the quarrels
of its generals, helped to steady our dcA'otion to coun
try and government by elevating our patriotism above
the fortunes of individuals. These disputes betAveen
the coraraanding generals of our army culminated in
charges being preferred by General Scott against
Generals PilloAv and Worth and Lieutenant-Colonel
Duncan, the latter having avoAved the authorship of
the Leonidas letter, at the same tirae expressly ex
onerating PilloAv and Worth frora all knoAvledge of or
connection Avith it. General Worth also preferred
charges against General Scott, and appealed to the
President of the LTnited States. General Scott was

31 A RYLAND VOLUNTEER. 433
recalled, his recall being based on tAvo grounds : first,
his own request, and, secondly, for having placed
General Worth in arrest, because the latter had ap
pealed, frora and through General Scott, to the War
Departraent. The order of recall was received on the 18th day of
February, 1848, and on that day General Scott issued
the folloAving noteworthy order, forraally transferring
the command to Major-General Butler, in a vein that
Avill never be forgotten by those Avho received the
first notice of his recall through these orders :
" Headquarters of the Army,
3IEXIC0, February 18, 1818.
'¦¦C-fcnrriil Orders No. -5^ ]
" By instructions frora tbe President of the United States, just
received, Major-Creneral Scott turns over tbe coraraand of this
army to Major-General Butler, who will immediately enter upon
duty accordingly.
" In taking leave officially of the troops he has so long had the
honor personally to comraand in an arduous campaign, — a sraall
part of whose glory bas been, frora position, reflected on the
senior officer, — Major-General Scott is happy to be relieved by a
General of established merit and distinction in the service of his
country. " By coramand of Major-General Scott.
" (Signed) " H. L. Scott, A. A. A.-G."
Major-General Butler on assuming comraand issued
the folloAving order, characterized by good sense and
good taste : "Headquarters Army of Mexico,
Mexico, February 19, 1848.
"Orders No 1.]
" Pursuant to tbe orders of the President of the United States,
and the iustructions of Major-General Scott, communicated in
his General Order Xo. 59, of yesterday's date, Major-General
Butler hereby assuraes comraand-of the army of Mexico.
28

434 31E310IRS OF A
" In entering upon the duties assigned him. General Butler
cannot be unmindful that he succeeds a General familiar alike
with the science and the art of war, and who has but recentlv
brought to a glorious termination one of the boldest campaigns
to be found in its annals. He, however, feels less diffidence in
assuraing the iraportant and responsible command assigned him,
from the conviction that he is aided and sustained by many of
the talented and experienced officers who contributed nobly to
our recent success in arms, and by a gallant army who have
learned too well the road to victory easily to mistake it.
" Tbe orders and instructions issued by Major-General Scott
for the government of this army will be continued in force.
" By order of Major-General Butler.
"(Signed) " L. Thomas, A. A.-G."
When the ncAvs of these disputes reached Washing
ton, they caused painful anxiety to the Cabinet, and
it Avas not until after full deliberation that the goA'-
ernment acted. On the loth day of January, 1848,
the orders of the War Department were issued : these
erabraced the recall of Scott, and the appointment, by
direction of the President, of a Court of Inquiry, to
consist of Brevet Brigadier-General N. ToAvson, Pay
master-General, Brigadier-General Caleb Cushing, and
Colonel E. G. W. Butler, Third Dragoons (the aboA-e
order was modified by detailing BrcA'et Colonel Wm. G.
Belknap, of the Fifth Infantry, a member, in the place
of Colonel Butler) members, to assemble in Mexico, to
inquire and examine into the charges and allegations
preferred by Major-General Winfield Scott against
Major-General Gideon J. Pillow and BrcA'et Lieuten
ant-Colonel Jaraes Duncan, Captain of the Second
Regiment of Artillery, and the charges or matters of
complaint presented by Avay of appeal by Brevet
Major-General William J. Worth, Colonel of the

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 43,3
Eighth Regiment of Infantry, against Major-General
Winfield Scott; and also into any other matters con
nected Avith the sarae, as Avell as such other transac
tions as raay be submitted to the consideration of the
court; and, after duly investigating the same, ths court
Aviil report the facts in each case, together Avith its
opinion thereon, for the inforraation of the President.
In a letter of the sarae date Avith these orders, the
Secretary of War Avrote to General Scott, giving hira
the reasons Avhy the President had deterrained upon
a court of inquiry rather than a court raartial, and
said : " Desirous to secure a full examination into all
the matters erabraced in the several charges Avhich
you have presented against Major-General PilloAV and
Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel Duncan, as Avell as the
charges or grounds of complaint presented against you
by Brevet Major-General Worth, and deeming your
presence before the court of inquiry Avhich has been
organized to investigate these matters indispensably
necessary for this purpose, you are directed by the
President to attend the said court of inquiry, AvhereA'er
it may hold its sittings; and when your presence
before or attendance upon the court shall no longer be
required, and you are notified of that fact by the
court, }ou Avill report in person at this Department
for further orders."
There were various and sincere eflbrts made in
Me.xico to settle these difficulties before the meeting
of the court, in order to prevent the injury to the ser
vice likely to arise therefrom. They Avere raainly
successful : the fiery spirit of Worth Avas appeased ;
for he had been released from arrest, and restored to

436 3IEM01RS OF A.
comraand, until his appeal had been disposed of; he
Avithdrew his charges against General Scott, although
it is well knoAvn it Avas against the Avishes of the
latter. General Scott refused to prosecute his charges
against General Worth, and AvithdrcAV those against
Lieutenant-Colonel Duncan. In the case of General
Pillow, the proceedings went on; they Avere interest
ing and lengthy, involving not alone the operations
of the array in the Valley, but, incidentally, ranch of
the history of the entire Avar.
The opinion of the court put an end at once and
forcA'er to these troubles. It concluded thus : " The
court is of opinion that no further proceedings
against General Pillow in the case are called for by
the interest of the public service."
During the investigation there were offered in evi
dence several letters Avritten by Mexicans in the city
to parties outside, which Avere intercepted and cap
tured by the American guard at Tacubaya. Their
authenticity has never been questioned. I give them,
Avith the testiraony of several of our officers, as matters
of interest, interwoven with the thread of my history.
THE INTERCEPTED LETTERS.
(WRITTEN BY MEXICANS.) "San Antoxio, Aug\i.-t 19.
" Yesterday we commenced firing upon the enemy with our
cannon, and killed some men and horses. Toda}', up to 12 m.,
we have fired but few shots, and the enemy are retreating, with
the object, I suppose, of going to Tacubaya by the way of Pedre
gal (Contreras). They have a long distance to raarch, and 1 do
not knovv what will become of thera in their unfortunate situa
tion. Every day is a loss to them and a gain to us. The struggle
will be severe, but favorable to us, as tbe measures we have

31 A RYLAND VOLUNTEER. 437
taken are very good, and they will not laugh this time in their
beard, as thev have on forraer occasions. "Dn. P. I."
The following letter is from a raeraber of the
Mexican Congress, and is marked private.
" Mexico, .Vuffust 21, 1847.
"My DE.AR Friend, — I have before me your welcorae letter
of the 10th instant, in which, araong other things, you are
pleased to point out to me tbe reasons Avhy you had suspended
our correspondence. The idea you present to me, tbat I ought
not to leave tbis place before having .arranged everything rela
tive to that  , is a good one, but cannot be realized at
present, owing to the afflicting circurastances wbich overwhelm
us, everything being in tbe greatest disorder, and there being
in fact no Congress, and sovernraent occupying itself only with
matters of the war, aud absolutely no other business can be at
tended to. In truth, this war is going to cease, as I suppose,
because, on tbe 19tb and 2()th, at the gates of Mexico, our nation
has covered itself with mourning and dishonor, and our generals
and chiefs, in particular, with opprobrium. There is notevenleftto
us the glory to say, with that French personage well known in
history, that ' All is lost but our honor,' as our army has long
since lost both honor and shame, which is not necessary to prove,
when tbis capital groans with sorrow and anger against those
who call themselves its defenders. The enemy has as yet not
soiled witb his tread the palaces of the Montezumas, but that is
because a suspension of hostilities has caused hira to pause in
his triuraphant march. This suspension, whicb has no other
object than to collect the wounded and to bury the dead, as sorae
say, has also anotber purpose, and tbat is to see the propositions
of peace from the Government of Washington, of which Mr.
JN'icholas Trist is the bearer. The actual government, that is to
say. the President, wbo finds hiraself corapromised before the
nation, has sent a message to Congress, which I take to be a
matter of mere form, that upon hearing the above-raentioned
propositions he would use only the powers belonging to hira by
the constitution. The Congress, besides the fact that it does not

438 MEMOIRS OF A
exist, there being assembled to-day but twenty-five deputies, as
yet has nothing to do with the raatter, so that the message of
the President seems to rae to be untimely ; nevertheless, being
so or not. Congress, as I said before, as it does not exist, can do
nothing. From this I deduce, with other friends of the same
opinion, the following results: tbatthecase being an urgent one,
the enemy waiting an answer at tbe gates of the city, a raeeting
of Congress being irapossible in order to review treaties which
must be concluded at the latest next week, the executive is
necessarily obliged to assurae powers not conceded to it by tbe
constitution, — to wit, that of approving treaties after having
raade thera. In a normal state of the country, this would be
an assumption and against law, so that the executive, in order to
exercise this power, finds it necessary to use revolutionary
means. Hence the necessity for a dictatorship, which is already
announced to us, and I think that but a few days will elapse
before this will be realized. Be on the lookout. If I learn any-
tbimr more I will inform you of it. It is true tbat if our array
had beeu successful we should have fallen under a dictatorship,
about which our railitary chiefs have so rauch occupied them
selves, and perhaps they were dreaming of that when they were
all beaten; but, beincr beaten, tbe sarae bojie reraains, witb this
difference, that as they must bave something to lean upon, that
support I suppose will now i)e the Yankees. Be that as it may,
I will soon ascertain and tell you. I will not occupy mv'self in
giving you a minute description of how tbe action was brought
on and how lost, nor will I give you a forraal opinion of the
motives of the parties : hovi'ever, I will tell you wbat I hear
from rational and well-informed people. General Valencia, the
rival of Santa Anna, wished the glory of defeating the enemv ;
but he needed assistance, which should have beeu sent hira.
AVell, the l)attle once coraraenced. whether right or wrong, Santa
Anna looked upon the rout of Valencia as a cold spectator, send
ing him no assistance, after which everything was rout and dis
order on our part. You can make such commentaries as vou
please, but bear in mind, in order to raake no raistakes, that our
army was composed of twenty-four or twenty-flve thousand men,
and that of the enemv of onlv twelve thousand men, and that

31 A RYLAND VOLUNTEER. 439
after the actions of the 19th and 20tb our forces do not amount
to over eleven thousand men, all of whom are frightened to
death. Araong the misfortunes which have befallen us, we have
in tlie hands of the enemy many hundreds of prisoners, including
the battalion of Independence and Bravo, the loss of Perdigan,
Blanco, and Frontera, and other generals, and a great many killed.
The ex President Anaya and many others are prisoners, all our
artillery lost, and our regular troops dispersed or cut to pieces.
" M\' friend, in all our raisfortunes I do not note, as sorae
people will have it, that there has been any treason or secret
understanding, but I raust say that there is great weakness and
ignorance, and very little honor shown on the part of our gen-
erals-in-chief. ^A'e raust only look to God for the salvation of
our country. I ara |ileased that you intend to enter into rela
tionship witb the rainisters and with bis excellency the President;
but I must recommend tbat you be very respectful in your letters,
that you touch their pride without adulation. The minister of
T  .-^ays be will answer your note.
" Xo one knew of the intentions Valencia had; but after his
rout it was said that bad be gained the victory be would have
overpowered Santa Anna and made himself dictator; for which
purpose he had already naraed bis ministers, and had promised
the rank of general to several of his friends. Others say tbat
Talencia was in league with the enemy ; but this, to speak the
truth, I cannot and shall never believe. However, tbe raan
(Valencia) wbo has been ordered to be shot by Santa Anna has
escaped through the State of Mexico, which governraent has
received him well, which I do not understand.
" .Should there be a dictatorship or not, you must be very
vigilant and take care of our interests; that is to say, should
our territory not be benefited, that we shall not lose. I have
heard it announced that the States of .lalisco, Guanajuato, and
Zacatecas, etc , wish to raake a separate republic, but I do not
know wbat to think, Colina; on which account it would be ne
cessary for them to think us instruments (tools) to be cheated.
Others say that those States which are against the army will
annex themselves, together with other States of the North, to
the United States of Araerica.

440 31EM0IRS OF A
" August 21, 1847.
"Old Man, — Although I am a regidor (a civil ofiBcer), still I
resolved to go to the fight, as I could no longer reraain in the city
taking care of disorderly women and drunkards. I determined
to see the fate of my unfortunate country ; consequently, on
Tuesday last, I received an order frora the Minister of War and
governraent, directing me to join General Alcorta, as his aide-de-
carap; and on Wednesday raorning I went to the Pefion, re
solved to endure all the privations of a carapaign and to see in
what I could serve my country. The enemy presented himself
on Thursday raorning before us, in order to allow their engi
neers to make a reconnaissance of our position, but he did not
like the patato, and on Sunday night Santa Anna beard tbat the
enemy had certainly taken the route towards Tlalpan (San Au
gustin). On Monday morning at nine o'clock we coraraenced
our march tov,-ards the sarae place (by the city), and on Tuesday,
after an exaraination of tbe place, we saw that we could not make
resistance there, and it was resolved tbat we should take up our
position at San Antonio. That same afternoon the Yankees
arrived at San Augustin at 2 p.ai. We proceeded with the
greatest activity to make preparations for resistance, and ordered
the heaviest pieces of ordnance to be brought from Pefion to San
Antonio, and we protected our right flank as much as possible,
fearing that the eneray raight take advantage of us in tbat
quarter. We raade ditches and redoubts, and General Perez's
brigade, coraposed of four thousand infantry, and seven hundred
horse, of the hussars, who were at Jalapa, was ordered to go
.around by Coyoacan (near San Anscel) The Fifth Brigade,
coraposed of Victoria, Independence, Hidalgo, and Bravos, were
ordered to raarch to Churubusco ; this brigade was composed of
two thousand raen, and generally called Polkas. On Wednesdav
tbe Yankees presented theraselves at the hacienda of Cuapa,
about the fourth of a league from San Antonio. There must
bave been seven or eight hundred men ; and we fired several shots
at thera with our tweuty-four-pound piece, and some shells, with
a good result. In the raean tirae I took a nap at general bead-
quarters, about half a league this side of San Antonio, where
Bravo comraanded. Day before yesterday (Thursday) we con-

31A RYLAND VOLUNTEER. 44 1
tinned firing cannon on the enemy, and at one o'clock we observed
tbat Valencia, who was posted at Ma^dalena to impede the enemy
that way, commenced firing cannon. The fire was heavy, when an
aide of Valencia's arrived, saying tbat he was being surrounded,
and we sent an aid to Perez, and anotber to ;\Iexico to Lorabar
dini (Minister of War), in order that be raight tell Rangel to raarch
with his two thousand raen, together with Perez's brigade, to tbe
support of Valencia. At about half-past three o'clock in tbe after
noon we found ourselves in front of the eneray, who were taking
a position on the left flank of Valencia, who, the eneray, on see
ing five thousand raen who carae to reinforce Valencia, com
raenced coverin.g- theraselves in tbe bushes and behind the church
of San Geronirao. However, the enemy's forces in front of Va
lencia continued to fire upon hira, and he, Valencia, returned
their fire with twenty-one pieces of cannon. A little before dark
we received three light pieces we bad sent for, and we fired six
times witb good result. I bad proposed not to ask where we
were going, and what was my astonishment wben, at night, we
were ordered to retire to San Angel, two and a half leagues dis
tance from Valencia's carap ! We there met IvangeTs division ;
and ours, together with bis, araounted to twelve thousand men.
"Well, old gentleraan, instead of marching early tbe next
morning to the beautiful position we left on the 19th, we did
not start till after six o'clock, merelj', as it were, to see tbe de
struction of Valencia, and we had not arrived at the position of
the precedinn" day when we met two flving soldiers, at abont
seven o'clock, who brought the fatal news of the coraplete rout of
Valencia. Then Don Antonio (Santa Anna) gave orders for
our return to Mexico, as it was to be raade another Troy. Ban-
gel's brigade was ordered to take possession of the citadel, and
Santa Anna gave Perez and Bravo orders to retire from San
Antonio, as, San Angel being taken, we were cut off bv the
enemy ; and you can imagine the confusion and the destruction of
the morale of our array which ensued. In moving our artillery
and ammunition we were put to much inconvenience and delay;
for, as it had rained the nia-ht previous, tbe wheels stuck in the
raud. and the mules, fatiarued, could not haul them. Tbe result
was that, when the Yankee observed our movements, and saw

442 31EM0IRS OF A
us withdraw our pieces from the embrasures at San Antonio, he
detached two colurans, one by the Pedrea-al (rough, volcanic
ground), and the other down the main road, and consequently
took San Antonio; and most of Alvarez's troops, brought from
the south, were made prisoners. Whilst this was going on at
San Antonio, the same troops whicb had routed Valencia were
detached in two columns, one of which attacked Churubusco,
wbere. after a small resistance, the companies of Independence
and Bravo were taken prisoners, as also other companies that
were cut off in their retreat. The other coluran came down the
main road and attacked the bridge by the same name, where our
wagons (returning from San Antonio and fast in the mud)
served tbem as trenches, and, after an attack of infantry alone,
they took our position, which appeared impregnable, putting us
shamefully to flight, and, had the enemy been any other, they
would have gone directly into Mexico, for our cursed soldiers,
frightened to death, were bellowing in tbe streets, 'Here come
the Yankees 1' Finally Santa Anna resolved to defend the city
at the lirst line ; and, if our soldiers would not run, we had a
sufficient nuraber left to defend tbis unfortunate city.
" But now tbey speak of a capitulation, or I know not wbat.
The result is that the Yankees can march directly into ^lexico
at anv hour they please, owing to tbe cowardice and  of
our generals-in-cbief Bassadra. ?iIora A'illamil, and Aranjois
started at daybreak this morning, with orders frora Pacheco, to
ask Scott for thirty hours' armistice, in order to bury the dead
and collect tbe wounded. Santa Anna became very angry, and
said. This cursed Pacheco has made a fool of himself and com
promised me, which remark having corae to the ears of Pacheco
he resigned. Some say it was a preconcerted affair. I will now
give you, ray old raan, my opinion of all this. Valencia wished
to be the hero, but bad not the eleraents to raake him so. Santa
Anna wished to destroy hira, and, by not sending him reinforce
ments day before yesterday, be bas lost tbe nation. Keep this
to yourself Valencia received positive orders not to engage in
fight ; but, notwithstanding tbese orders, and the order to spike
bis artillery and retire if necessary, he reraained, and replied
that he considered himself strong enough to beat the enemy,

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 443
and that his array frora tbe north (it was frora San Luis Potosi)
could not bo overcome, much less would it retreat before the
eneray. Frora all I have said, you will judge the future destiny
of our unhappy countr}'. "Juan."

From a young lawyer to his father." Mexico. Aiin-ii.=t 21, 1847.
"Dear Father, — The end has proved, in the most unequivocal
manner, tbe correctness of our prophecies. The brigade under
Valencia was completely routed between seven and eight o'clock
j-esterday morning, and, in continuation, tbe sarae fate befell
the brigade of Perez, stationed at Coyoacan, and the troops at
Churubusco. " Wbo is to be punished for these disasters ? The public voice
accuses Santa Anna of having been a cold and impassive spec
tator of tbe routof Valencia, whilst his assistance raight pos.sibly
have decided the battle in our favor. The Yankees surrounded
Valencia, and some of thera placed theraselves between hira aud
Santa Anna, without anv interruption frora the latter. Some
say that Valencia disobeyed the orders of Santa Anna, and
Santa Anna was piqued b\' the disobedience ; but this does uot
lessen the culpability of tbe rascal who gratifies a private feel
ing and thereby jeopardizes the most sacred interests of his
country. "The fact is that everything is lost, and the Yankees will be
here to-raorrow. ".I. AV."

From a member of Congress. "Muxico. August 21. 1847.
"Loved Friend, — The 19th and 20fh of August have been
to ^Mexico days of raourning and ignominy, as we have lost a
great many valiant Mexicans, and our iraraense array bas been
routed by a handful of adventurers. We are all choking with
grief at such a catastrophe, and we fear the sad consequences
of the triuraph of tbe enemy. The enemy has not yet entered

444 ME3I0IRS OF A
the city, but they are at our very gates, awaiting the answer of
our government, which has already entered into negotiations
for peace. What will follow this negotiation, God knows. What
does the United States want? Who knows ? Congress cannot
assemble, nor will it assemble ; therefore I shall go to you in a
few days, as I ara anxious to see you and my family. Work for
your country. Do not cease your labor. Do wbat you can to
protect the public institutions, the arts, sciences, etc. "L. B."

The first sheet of the original of this letter Avas

lost.

o'

" Scott, a man of superior talents in the art of war, as it
appears, considering the position of Valencia very advan
tageous, established a small portion of his troops in a ravine
very near our batteries, from whence he could use his muskets
to advantage without injury from us, be, Scott, having no artil
lery. Afterwards he sent a coluran, witb three light pieces of
artillery, to take a position on the heights on the right of
Valencia's camp, and another body of troops on the left of
Valencia, in order to flank this general. At about six o'clock in
the morning of the 20th of August he obtained his object,
having troops concealed on both flanks of Valencia, and a very
few in front, with a number of wagons, to call the attention of
Valencia tbat way.
" The column which on the previous afternoon bad taken
position on tbe right of Valencia, Scott ordered should get in
the rear during the night, and the body of troops that were in
front of Valencia the sarae afternoon were divided, one part of
which took the right of Valencia; and in the mean time he had
sent reinforcements to the body stationed on the left, obliging
his soldiers to cross a river half-body fleep. In this manner
Valencia during the night was entirely cut off, and at six o'clock
the next morning he was attacked at the same tirae in the front,
in the rear, and on both flanks. The engagement lasted about
two hours, the result of which was that all our artillerv was

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 445
lost, witb the entire train, aramunition and all, a great raany
killed and wounded, and those who were not made prisoners
were entirely dispersed. On the afternoon of the dav previous,
Valencia, seeing that he was in danger of being flanked, asked
assistance of Santa Anna, who ordered him to retire imme
diately; but he, Valencia, did not retire, probably because he
considered victory possible. Valencia did not send for reinforce
ments once, but several tiraes, on all which occasions be was
refused by Santa Anna, and the order to retire was repeated, on
account of which, after the unfortunate result of the ensraee-
ment, Santa Anna ordered this general to be shot for dis
obedience. Some assure us tbere is foundation for this order;
for A^alencia was very obstinate, and thereby caused the loss of
the whole army. Still, others do not think so, as having be
haved with valor saves him from all discreditable imputation.
¦' Mv opinion is that Santa Anna should have sent Valencia re
inforcements, and should have procured a victory by any means,
and after that chastised him for his disobedience of orders. In
this manner he would have rendered an iraportant service to the
nation, and it would have been a salutary exaraple for generals-
in-cbief in future. Scott, having destroyed our best troops, the
flower of the array, then proceeded with his forces and attacked
tbe main array immediately afterwards, that is to say, those
stationed at San Antonio and Churubusco and Mexicalcingo,
thereby effecting in one single day tbe destruction of an army
of more than thirty thousand raen. The Xorth Araerican gen
eral, in a strange country, has fought us in detail and destroyed
our large array, a thing whicb our general should have done
with respect to his array.
" It is now five o'clock in the afternoon, and the eneray bas sent
in an intimation allowing forty-eight hours for the evacuation
of tbis city, so that their troops may occupy it. Our troops,
which with great difficulty have been brought together, do not
exceed eight or nine thousand raen, with which we can do
nothing, as they have lost tbeir morale.
" The companies of Bravo and Independence, with the excep
tion of a few killed, are prisoners. Generals Salas and Goros-
tiza are prisoners, as also others, Avhose naraes I do not recollect.

446 31 E MO IRS OF A
As yet I hear only of the death of Generals Mejia and Frontera,
colonel of cavalry. It is also said, but not certainly, that Per
digan was killed. I have just been told that Bravo is a prisoner,
and also Anava."

TESTIMONY BEFOEE THE COCTRT OF INQUIRY AT THE
CITY OF ilEXICO.
"Brigadier-General Persifer F. Smith, duly sworn.
"Question by prosecution. — By whose orders did the witness
pass the Pedregal, near tbe enemy, on the afternoon of Auu'ust
19th last; about what hour did be reach tbe hamlet called San
Geronimo, tbat afternoon ; wbat does the witness know of any
plan or order of battle respecting an attack by the American
forces on tbe eneray's left flank, rear, or intrenched carap, coming
from Major-General Pillow, and by whom was the plan actually
executed upon that camp, conceived, laid down, aud executed,
on the raorninir of the 20th of August?
"Answer. — !My brigade was in General Twiggs's Division.
That division, by General Scott's order, coraraunicated through
General Twiggs to rae, passed through San Augustin, and in front
of General Pillow's Division, to cover tbat division in raaking a
road by whicb the army raight reach the San Angel road to
turn the position at San Antonio. That was the explanation
that accompanied tbe order for our movement through San
Augustin and to the front of General Pillow. After passing a
hill or mound to the right, we got under the fire of the enemy's
position at Contreras. General Twiggs then ordered the ad
vance, composed of two companies of riflemen, to drive the
skirmishers of the enemy, which were in tbe corn in front, and
cover tbe engineers in their reconnaissance. Wbile tbat was
doing, Magruder's Battery came to tbe front. On the report of
the engineers, the battery was ordered to advance, and I was
ordered with my brigade to support it. General Twiggs at the
same time turned Taylor's Battery and Riley's Brigade ofip to
tbe right, and they soon disappeared around the corn-field and
into the Pedregal ; one of the pieces of Magruder's Battery got
fast iu a stone wall, througb which it was i)assing, which dclaved

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 447
us a few rainutes. .Just as we started again, General Pillow
rode up. He asked rae where General Twiggs was. I told
him be had gone in that direction, pointing to the right, and he
turned and went after him ; at that very raoraent, as he turned
off, I entered the corn-field, and could see no raore of hira.
"The next I saw of either of these general officers — General
Twiggs or General Pillow — was after tbe action, next raorning.
General Twiggs joined the division just as its head was march
ing out of tbe village of San Geronimo. General Pillow came
up to tbe head of the coluran where I was, just before entering
San Angel, near some ruined arches of an aqueduct, on the left-
band side going in.
"Tbe only orders I had received up to tbe tirae of General
Pillow's turning off to the right, to follow General Twiggs, was
the first order of General Scott in relation to tbe moveraent on
to the San Angel road. The order of General Twiggs to move
to the front and support ^Magruder's Battery, witb sorae orders
of detail, in tbe raean time, frora General Twiggs General Pil
low gave me no order at all. JIagruder's Batterv moved for
ward and occupied a position pointed out liy the engineers, and
I moved my brigade to the left, and in a position to support tbe
battery. There was a very heavy fire frora the eneray's artillery,
and the attack directly in front would have occasioned a very
great loss. To turn their position by our left would not cut
their line of retreat; and. seeing the church of tbe village be
tween their position and tbe citv, I deterrained to raove round
by our right iuto that village and take possession of it. I called
the officers of the battalion together to explain my object, and
that I should execute it in a few minutes if no orders came up
to tbe contrary. After waiting probably fifteen minutes longer,
to see if any order should come from the rear, I directed Captain
Magruder to open again his fire, whicb had been pretty much
silenced by the eneray, in order to cover my movement to tbe
right. I then moved off by the right flank, tilinc: round and
then toward the village. I happened to come out frora the
Pedregal along with the rear of a regiment that was under the
coraraand of General Cadwalader. I do not know what regi
ment it was, but think frora other circumstances that it was

448 MEMOIRS OF A
^lorgan's regiment. It was raore than an hour before sunset
when we got on the open field on the right of the village. As
we started from the position of Magruder's Battery, we saw
reinforcements coming out from the city. When we carae out
from the Pedregal, they were forraed in considerable force between
the village and San Angel, their left on a wood, their line per
pendicular to the San Angel road. As my brigade was forming
after getting to the village, these reinforcements filed round by
their rigbt flank and formed in two lines parallel to the road.
At tbis moraent General Cadwalader came up and reported to
me. I inquired, first, if Colonel Eiley's Brigade was over there,
but could get no information about it. I then, in order to make
force against the new line of the enemy, ordered General Cad
walader to form his brigade, or four regiraents, by a movement
by his flank in a line parallel to the eneray. I put Major Dim-
ick's regiment of artillery in tbe orchard on the main road
leauing from Contreras to San Angel, and formed the third regi
ment and tbe rifles on tbe right flank of the village in column.
I directed a corapany from Lieutenant-Colonel Graham's regi
ment, and Lieutenant Smith's engineer company, to take posses
sion of the church in the centre of tbe village. Shortly after,
an officer reported tbat he bad met Lieutenant Porter, of the
Fourth Artillery, who had inforraed him that Ptiley's Brigade
was then at tbe farther end of the village, or beyond it, and
Colonel Riley soon after reported to me that bis brigade was
there. The enemy in front were commanded by Santa Anna,
tbose in camp by General Valencia, though then we did not
know who commanded them. After examining Santa Anna's
position, I ordered an attack upon it; Riley to attack towards
his left, Cadwalader about one hundred and fifty yards to the
right of Riley, and retire iu echelon, both in coluran, by divi
sion, left in front. Riley was to pierce the right of tbe enemy's
line about two battalions from tbe right, and tben retreat to the
rigbt and take tbe eneray in flank ; Cadwalader to form to the
front. Tbis was just about sunset, wben tbe order was given.
General Cadwalader bad examined the ravine in bis front, and
reported that, though difficult, it could be passed. Riley soon
returned, and reported his brigade ready to raarch out. In a few

3IARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 449
rainutes afterwards General Cadwalader came up for some
explanation of tho order, and reported that the ground occupied
by his brigade was so difficult, frora ditches, walls, and luishes,
that it would be some time before he could get his regiraents out,
as the staff-officers had to raake great circuits on accou:it of tbe
obstructions, in order to convey orders for the movement to the
different regiments.
" Bv this time it had got so dark that you could scarcely per
ceive tbe eneray's lines as be stood under the brow of the hill ;
and, as it would be, evidently, quite dark before we crossed the
ravine, the order to attack was countermanded.
" Colonel Riley mentioned that while he had been to the
upper end of the village, and outside of it towards tbe eucniy.
Captain Canby and Lieutenant Tower, engineers, had reconnoi-
tered the a'round towards Valencia's position, and bad found that
the ravine in front of tbe village led up entirelv' in rear of A'al-
encia's carap, and that infantry could move up it. I tben
deterrained to attack before day, in tbat direction, and, upon my
saying that I should be very glad to comraunicate mv position
and intentions to General Si;ott, Captain Lee volunteered to
go to him. I desired him to l'O over and report tbat we
should raarch out at 3 o'clock, attack Valencia's position in the
rear, and requested that such diversion as could be made raight
be raade on tbe front of said position. I then seut Lieutenants
Brooks and Tower to examine again this ravine after dark, in
order that we might be sure to find it before daylight in the
morning. I then disposed of tbe troops to defend the place if
attacked in the night, and to march out witb most facility before
day. After tbe return of Lieutenants Brooks and Tower, I
sent for General Cadwalader, Colonel Riley, and Major Dimick,
the commanders of the three brigades, and gave to each detailed
instructions wbat he was to do in the attack in the morning,
providing particularly for the case of an attack on us by Sauta
Anna while we were marching out to attack Valencia. About
10 o'clock, General Shields's Aide, Lieutenant Hammond, carae
up and reported to rae that the general, with two regiraents, had
got through the Pedregal, and was lying between, I think, one
of the ravines, at the edge of the Pedregal, and tbe road. Being
29

450 3IE310IRS OF A
under the irapression that I ranked General Shields, I directed
that his two regiments should occupy tbe position tbat Major
Dimick had occupied when we first got over, — that was tbe
orchard in the road, — directing that the whole of my own bri
gade should then join the column that was raoving out to tbe
attack. About 12 o'clock General Shields came himself I re
peated the instructions to hira, still under the impression that I
ranked hira; and he, with great delicacy, as well as witb great
mafrnaniraity, did not even hint at bis actual position, which was
that (if ray senior. He went and joined his brigade, whicb was
then in the orchard. He was to occupv the village after we
raarched out. A few rainutes before 3 o'clock, Riley's Brigade
raarched out; two of Cadwalader's regiraents followed; the
other two, which were at the further end of the villaa-e, and in
very difficult ground, not being ready. General Cadwalader
undertook to reraain and bring thera up in time ; Major Dimick
followed the two leading regiments of Cadwalader with my
brigade, and tben tbe two other regiments of Cailwalader fol
lowed. Owing tn the extreme difficulty of the path, it took us
tbree hours until Pviley's Brigade got into position in the rear of
the enemy's works. It had been broad daylight for some time
before he arrived there. As the eneray had a great deal of cav
ahy about tbeir position, Riley was ordered to attack in two
columns, and to deploy when the nature of the ground would
perrait him. Cadwalader's Brigade had been intended to make
face against Santa Anna, if he moved to tbe assistance of Val
encia, and Dimick to have assisted in either the one or tbe other
attack, as circumstances migbt require. But Santa Anna, dur
ing the night, had withdrawn bis infantry to some houses at the
upper end of San Angel, so that, when it got to be broad day, we
could only see Santa Anna's cavalry in its position, and the head
of his infantry a great distance off, returuino- to its position. He
was so far off' that it was evident we had nothing to fear from
any movement be could make. Just as Tviley's coluran was
forraed for attack, cavalry were seen raoving out from A'alencia's
position up towards the raountains. As they might by tbat way
turn Riley's rigbt flank, and as it was not necessarv to pav anv
further attention to Santa Anna's force, I directed that Cadwal-

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 451
ader's Brigade should also form in two columns, one to raove
round on Riley's right flank and rear, and tbe other on his left
flank. This order was communicated to the senior officer of the
two first retriments that had raarched out; and at tbis raoraent
General Cadwalader carae up with the other two, and irarae-
diatelv the attack commenced. Seeing that there was no neces
sity for reserving any troops to raeet the force under Santa Anna,
Diraick was ordered to face to the left, and advance in line across
the ravine, against the flank of Valencia's work, at the same
time. I forgot to mention that the Engineer company and Rifles
bad been thrown on Pviley's left and front, under the brow of
the bill, to clear his front of tbe skirmishers.
" The whole of the enemy's works and position were carried at
one sweep. A good raany of tbe fugitives were intercepted by
General Shields, at his position. After directing the artillerv,
prisoners, pack-mules, etc., to be secured, I directed the column
to be formed to advance in pursuit of the enemy. I sent an
order to tbe rear that Major Gardner's regiment of artillery
should take charge of the captured artillery and ammunition ;
and another regiment of infantry, Colonel Trousdale's I think,
to take charge of the other captured property ; aud General
Shields's Brigade to take charge of the prisoners. I moved on,
however, towards San Angel before tbese dispositions were com
pleted ; and I believe they were altered afterwards by other offi
cers who came up. As tbe Rifles and Third Infantry raoved out
from araong the incumbrances which were strewn along the
road, General Twiggs came up; he directed the pursuit to be
continued, making occasional short halts, until the other regi
ments could get into their positions in the column. We con.
tinned until, on approaching San Angel, General Pillow came
to tbe bead of the coluran and assuraed command."

"Mexico, April 16, 1848.
" Colonel Bennet Riley.''' U.S.A., duly sworn for tbe defense.
* This gallant old soldier was born in Saint Mary's County,
Marvland. He entered the array as an ensign in the Rifle Regi-

452 ME3I0IRS OF A
" Question by defense. — Was witness upon the battle-field of
Contreras, on the 19th of August? if so, he will please state bis
movements upon that field upon that day.
"Answer. — I was upon the battle-field of Contreras on the
19thof August last. After Twiggs's Division joined General Pil
low on the hills in front of tbe works, General Pillow rode up to my
brigade and gave me two or three orders to raove a little further
to the right, or a little to the left, and, finally, to raove forward.
After halting a short time, General Pillow gave rae an order to
cross the Pedregal. I asked him if General Twiggs knew of the
order. He said he did, and that* he had sent the order to him.
I think tbe direction was, as well as I can recollect, to cross the
Pedregal, turn the enemy's left, and be would support me. He
had scarcely done speaking, when Lieutenant Brooks, the acting
Adjutant-General of the Division, carae up and gave rae a sirai
lar order. I executed tbe movement, and did not see General
Pillow again that day.
" Question by defense. — Wbere was witness when the order
spoken of bv General Pillow was delivered ? was he at or near
the base of tbe hill ? and wbere was witness's command when
Brooks delivered tbe order ?
" Answer. — I was on the left flank, I think, of the brigade, near
some trees, and the brigade was in the sarae position, when I
received the order througb Lieutenant Brooks; as it was when
General Pillow gave the order. I was near the Pedregal.
" Question by defense. — When witness asked General Pillow
if General Twiggs knew of the order tben given him (witness),
raent, in the year 1813; served through the war with Great
Britain, and through tbe Florida and Black Hawk Indian wars.
Brevetted Colonel U.S.A., for gallantry at the battle of Choka-
chatta, Florida ; Brigadier-General U.S.A. fur gallantry at Cerro
Gordo, and Major-General L^.S.A. for gallantry at Contreras.
He was the first Military Governor of the newly-acquired
Territory of California, and transferred tbe railitary to the civil
powers, upon the inauguration of Peter H. Burnet, the first Gov
ernor, on the 20lh day of Deceraber, 1849, at San Jose, tbe then
capital of the new State of California.

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 453
did or did not tieneral Pillow say to witness tbat be bad given
Twiggs the same order, and told witness he would probably
raeet Twiggs, who would deliver bim the same order, and if he
did not meet Twiggs, that he (witness) would go forward and
execute the movement without further order ?
"Answer. — He did not say tbat he bad given the order to
General Twiga-s; he did tell me to go forward and I would prob
ably meet General Twiggs, wbo would give rae the sarae order
about the cornfield, but if I did not raeet hira to go forward and
execute the raoveraent.
" Question by defense. — Did witness see and understand from
the raoveraent of General Smith's Brigade and the explanation
and the orders given him (witness), tbat (General Smith had then
raoved oft' to attack the eneray's works in front ? and did witness
understand that be was to turn tbe eneray's left and gain bis
rear ? and if so, for wbat purpose?
"Answer. — General Sraitb's Brigade had moved oft' as I un
derstood, to support Maa^ruder's Battery ; I never heard any-
tbina- of the attack on Contreras, how it was to be made, or
anytliina' uf tbe kind at that time. I supposed that the attack
was to be made in front, and tbat I was sent across tbe Pedregal
to cut off tbe retreat of the enemy, and check reinforcements
coraing frora the city. This was, however, only my supposition
at the time ; I never had any explanation given to rae.
" Question by defense. — Where was Magruder's Battery
placed in position ? was it in front of the entrenched camp, or in
some other position ?
" Answer. — I thought it was in front or nearlv so; I judged
so frora the firing ; I did not go ne.ar the battery.
"Question by defense. — Did witness pass the Pedregal, pass
through tbe village, and engage the eneray's Lancers in the rear
of tbe eneray's position in several conflicts ? if so, was he or not
endeavorina- to gain the rear of the eneray's entrenched camp,
with the view of assaulting that work? if not, why did be pass
so far to the rear and beyond the road leading frora tbe city to
tbe carap ?
"Answer. — I did pass the Pedregal and tbe village; I en-
aaged the enemv in the first instance, in front of the village.

454 MEMOIRS OF A
between the village and the city. I passed the village and drove
the enemy's Lancers from their position, wbich was on our right,
but not exactly in rear of tbe entrenched carap. I passed
througb the village with the view of reconnoitering the rear of
the eneray's works, and kept the enemy busy to cover my re
connaissance. I was not endeavoring to gain the rear with a
view of assaulting the work; I passed so far beyond the village
in chase of the enemy.
'' Question by defense. — What was the object of raaking a re
connaissance ? was it with the view of ascertaining tbe practi
cability of an assault frora tbe rear, or with wbat view ?
"Answer. — It was ray object to get as much inlbrniation of
the practicability of an assault upon the rear as I could, to give
ray coraraanding officer, without knowing where or when he was
going to raake the general attack.
" Question by defense. — If witness had ascertained tbat an as
sault from the rear was practicable, and he had been supported,
would be bave assaulted that work on the 19th of August?
" Answer. — I should.
" Question by defense. — Did witness or not ascertain frora the
reconnaissance that an assault in the rear was jiracticable ? and
did he report that fact to Brigadier-General Smith ?
" Answer. — I did discover that the assault in rear was prac
ticable, aud that it was the best possible place to attack tbe en
trenched camp of Contreras ; and I caused it to be reported to
General Smith by Lieutenant Tower, engineer, that same even
ing about sundown.
" Question by defense. — Did witness on the 19tb bave aknowl
edge that General Cadwalader was sent to his support with four
regiraents; and that he was in the village of Ensalda that even
ing, shortly after witness left it, but was prevented from support
ing witness by tbe large body of the enemy's reinforcements?
"Answer. — I never knew that there was a soul in the village
belonging to the array, until I was returuing to make a carap for
tbe night; consequently, I did not know that be was stopped by
a large force of the eneray. If I had known it I should bave
attacked the entreiicued camp of Contreras on my own respon
sibility that evening.

31ARYLAND VOIjUNTEER. 455
" Question by prosecution. — Had or not any written or oral
order lieeii coraraunicated to the wiiness on the said U'th of
August last, either directly frora aeneral headquarters, or through
Brigadier-General Twiggs, respecting the operations against the
enemy ?
" .\.nswer. — Order Xo. 25S was read to me and brigade and
regimental comnianJers at S;ui Augustin, before I started, either
by a staff-officer of General Scott or General Twi.a'gs, I don't
reraeraber which ; and he, tbe staff-officer, said that he had not
tirae to copy it.
" Question by prosecution. — Had or had not tbe order, witness
so heard read, any bearing or not upon the operations that fol-
loweil against Eusalda aud the eneray who might be found in
that direction ?
"Answer. — The order was to aet everythina: ready, the tools
and so forth; andthat General Twiggs's Division should sup
port General Pillow's; and that the army should gain the San
Angel road; all of whicb I thiuk bore upon the operations
against the enemy — every p:u-t uf it. General Pillow never
gave me any instructions al all concernina; the attack of the
canip. I have always believed myself tbat any and every order
from headquarters has a beariua- upon the movements of the
army. I knew of no instructions frora headquarters further
than the general order I have already stated.
" Question by prosecution. — On raeeting Major-General Pillow
at or near the captured carap ou the 20th of August, did be then
in conversation or reraark claira to havo given the plan of attack
which had been so successfully executed ?
" Answer. — He did not.
" Question by prosecution. — By whose order was the brigade
of witness put in raarch from the captured camp, and again from
Coyoacan, to support Twiggs, Smith, and Taylor, in the attack
upon the convent ?
" Answer. — By General Scott in person."

" Captain Joseph Hooker, Assistant Adjutant-General, for the
defense, duly sworn.
" Question by defense. — Was witness present at a conference

456 31E3I0IRS OF A
of officers on the llth of Septeraber last, at Piedad ? If so, state
what were the views of Major-Generals Scott and Pillow in ref
erence to an early attack upon the eneray, in the direction of San
Antonio (garita) and Chapultepec.
" Answer. — I was present during the greater part of that con
ference. I ara confident, frora the views expressed by General
Scott, that he was decidedly in favor of attacking Chapultepec.
He called on a nuraber of officers present to express their views
in regard to the proper point of attack, whether Piedad or Cha
pultepec. Several of the officers present, General Pillow among
the number, evinced a great desire for more information than
they possessed on the subject. They appeared to be anxious to
know what position we should occupy in regard to the city and
the interior defenses, after we gained possession of either one of
those points. The difficulty appeared to be a want of knowledge
of what was behind tbese two positions. General Pillow sug
gested or asked for inforraation with regard to the citadel. Other
officers present inquired as to tbe sarae fact, and suggested other
difficulties on the Chapultepec route. There was one officer
present, of whose views I could speak with raore certainty, which
was Captain Lee, who preferred tbe attack on Piedad.
" Question by defense. — What does witness mean by tbe Piedad
works ?
" Answer. — I mean the work at the San Antonio garita.
" Question by the defense. — Does witness chance to reraem-
l)er any prominent reasons advanced by General Scott in favor
of attacking Chapultepec?
"Answer. — I know that General Scott said tbat he would
have more elbow-room if be had Chapultepec ; and also that he
bad reason to believe, or words to tbat effect, that he would be
raet by a white flag on taking it. I would also state tbat, during
that conference, General Scott said to one of the engineers
present that Captain Huger said he thought he could reduce
Chapultepec with bis batteries in one day. This was stated in
form of a question when the engineer said he had his doubts.
" Question by defense. — At wbat hour of the night of tbe
llth of September did General Pillow move with his coramand
from Piedad to Tacubaya, preparatory to the operations upon
Chapultepec ?

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 457
"Answer — 1 think we moved betAveen nine and ten o'clock
at night.
"Question by defense. — What knowledge has witness of
General Pillow having continued to direct the operations of the
forces (after he was wounded) which made the successful as
sault upon Chapultepec on the 13th of Septeraber? state also
what forces carried that work; was it those under bis comraand,
or other forces ? if other forces, state what forces they were.
"Answer. — Ou the morning of the 13th, three regiments frora
General Pillow's Division, with a storraing party frora General
Worth's Division, were ordered to raove to the assault of Cha
pultepec. Four companies of the Voltigeur Regiment, under
Lieutenant-Colonel Johnston, followed by the storming party
under Captain ^Mackenzie, were the first troops put in raotion.
The balance of the Voltigeur Regiment, under Colonel Andrews,
were the next to raove to the attack. Colonel Johnston moved
outside of the wall surrounding the grounds at tbe base of the
hill at Chapultepec, the others passed through tbe Molino del
Rey into tbe inside of tbe walls. The Ninth Infantry followed
the Voltigeurs, and forraed line of battle directlv after passing
through the gate into tbis field, at the base of Chapultepec. The
Fifteenth Regiraent of Infantry followed the Ninth, and forraed
line on the Ninth. In that order tbey moved forward to tbe at
tack. With slight interruptions they proa-ressed until they
reached tbe ditch inclosing part of the work on the summit of
Chapultepec, at whicb place tbe Fifteenth, the Ninth, and a part
of the Voltigeur Regiment, and the head of the storming party
under Captain Mackenzie, were stopped by the wall inclosing
the summit of tbe hill. Many of these raen entered the ditch,
and manv of them concealed theraselves behind rocks which lay
upon tbe surface of tbe a^round. The Voltigeurs that I refer to
¦were particularly a part of Colonel Andrew's party; appeared
at this time to be under the coraraand of IMajor Caldwell.
Colonel .Johnston's coraraand was more to tbe right. The hill
prevented me from seeing the raain body of the coraraand.
AVhile these troops were occupying this position, the fire from
tbe crest of the work directl}' in our front ceased. I saw sev
eral pieces discharged in the air behind the breastwork, but the

458 ME3I0IRS OF A
Mexicans appeared to be afraid to expose even their hands above
the crest of the work. A fire, however, was delivered by the
Mexicans from the roofs of the houses and from the windows,
and at that time their rigbt flank was occupied by the enemy.
The fire did but little execution, as the shots were raost of tbem
high. The troops I have naraed, or the main body of them,
were kept in this position I should think at least fifteen minutes
— it seemed to rae rauch longer — waiting for the ladders to corae
up. When the assaulting column was put iu motion, tbese ladders
were in rear of the storraing party. After waiting sorae time with
tbe troops at the top of the hill, I went after the ladders.
" In descending the hill, and nearly at the redan, about half
way up the hill, I saw the bead of the Second Pennsylvania
Regiment, the head of the South Carolina Regiment, and what
I took to be tbe New York Regiraent, for the colors were with
that party, but which I have since been told were only two cora
panies of the New York Regiraent under Lieutenant Reid. The
last named party were a little in the advance of the others, but
they were all inovina' up the hill, and moving by a flank. These
troops as I stood near the redan and facing down the hill were
on my left ; on my right was the head of Colonel Clark's Brigade.
On reacbina' the foot of the hill, I found General Pillow wounded ;
I asked bim where the ladders were, and said to hira that we
bad more troops than were necessary at the top of tbe hill. I
asked hira for authority to take a regiraent to attack tbe rigbt
flank of the enemy. He told rae to take any regiraent, aud as
the Eighth was on its way up the hill, I took the Sixth, which
was directly in rear of the Eighth. On reaching the point on
wbich the attack was intended to be raade, we found tbat the
ascent was very difficult. There was no cover, and tbat flank
was occupied by the eueniy, and they were firing very rapidly.
I then directed Captain Hoffman to halt and raove to the rear of
Chapultepec with his coraraand around the hill. I tben returned
to the troops who had been in advance, and reached the suniniit
of the hill in tirae to see the first ladder planted to enter tbe
work. It was planted in the bottora of tbe ditch, with one or
two others ; the others were laid across tbe di'eh. The first raan
that I saw enter the work — and I thiuk I saw the first one — was

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 459
a private, I took to be of the Voltigeur Regiment; following
liini were officers and men rushing over the work in great rapidity.
I think that the greater part of thera belonged to General Pillow's
Division, aud to tbe regiraents of his division I have before named.
I think that the first officer that went into the work belonaed to
the Voltigeur Regiment,* and I know that the first colors that
entered the work were those of the Voltigeur Regiraent. When
I entered the work — and I was not aiiiung tbe foremost — the
terreplein was clear of our troops, except those that had entered
on tbe side of which I speak. We had a number of raen shot
belonging to our party, by the cadets — they appeared to be —
who were occupying the upper terreplein, tbe ground on the
side of the work opposite to the point of our attack. They
would not have fired upon us bad an enemy been nearer to thera
than we were. I have said that tbe Voltigeurs, Ninth, Fifteenth
Piegiments, with a portion of the storming party, were the first
as a body to enter Chapultepec ; there raay have beeu individ
uals of other regiments, liut the regiments I have naraed were
started in advance, and they kept it uutil tbey reached the summit
of the bill, where they were so densely crowded together that it
was impossible for auy large body of raen to pass through tbera."

CHAPTER XLII.
NEGOTIATIONS FOR PEACE.
Although Mr. Trist had been recalled, he had not
yet left the country, and, acting in harmony and con
junction Avith General Scott, continuous efforts Avere
made, through the channels heretofore referred to,
* Captain John E. Howard, of Baltiraore, of the Voltigeur
Regiment, grandson of Colonel John E. Howard, of tbe Mary-
laud Line, in the war of the Revolution.

460 MEMOIRS OF A
the British erabassy and consulate at the city of
Mexico, to raake a treaty betAveen the United States
and the acting government at Queretaro.
On the 27th of November General Scott wrote to
Mr. Marcy, informing him that commissioners had
been appointed to negotiate for peace, but that, al
though they were in the city, they had not called on
him, nor had they submitted to him any propositions
whatever, although the governraent at Queretaro had
been inforraed that he Avas at all tiraes ready to send
horae any com.raunication looking to a reneAval of
negotiations. He concluded by saying that it Avas
doubtful Avhether the Mexican governraent or its
coraraissioners AA'ould adopt that course.
On the 2d of February, 1S48, General Scott Avrote
to the Honorable Secretary of War this iraportant
communication :
:H :¦« ^ :^ ;;; :^ ^
"I write, in haste, bv the express who carries the project of
a treaty, that Mr. Trist has, at the raoraent, signed witb ]Mexi-
can coraraissioners. If accepted, I hope to receive, as early as
practicable, instructions respecting the evacuation of this coun
try, the disposition to be raade of wagons, teams, cavalry aud
artillery horses, the points in the United States to which I shall
direct the troops, respectively, etc. (I have not y(;t read the
treatv, except in sraall part.) In the sarae contingency, if not
earlier recalled (and I understand my recall has been demanded
by two of my juniors !), I hope to receive instructions to allow
me to return to the United States as soon as I may deem the
publie service will permit, charging sorae other general officer
with completing the evacuation, wbich ought, if practicable, to
be finished before the return of the vomito, say early in May.
" In about forty days I may receive an acknowledgment of
this report. By that time, if the treaty be not accepted, I hope
to be sufficiently reinforced to open the commercial line between

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. ^Ql
Zacatecas and Tarapico. The occupation of Queretaro, Guana
juato, and Guadalajara would be next in importance, and sorae
of the ports of the Pacific the third. Meanwhile the collection
of internal dues on the precious raetals and the direct assess-
raents shall be continued."
The dangers of a foreign war Avaged by a republic,
no matter hoAv justifiable the cause, need not be
searched for in the speeches of Cicero, the doings of
proconsuls, the history of Eome, or in the annals of
later times. Araerican citizens Avill reflect upon the
subject-matter of the following letter and memoranda,
and inquire // General Scott had not been tlie pure man
lie ivas. what might he not have done, or any other gen
eral similarly situnttd, waging a loar thousaruls of miles
from the seat of our governments " Headqcjakteks or the Army,
" Mexico, February (3, 1S18.
" Sir, — I have not reported on tbe subject of secret disburse
ments since I left Jalapa. First, because of the uncertainty of
our coraraunications with Vera Cruz, and, second, the necessity
of certain explanations which, on account of others, ought not
to be reduced to writing. I may, however, briefly add that I
have never tempted tbe honor, conscience, or patriotism of any
man, but have held it as lawful in morals as in war to purchase
valuable information, or services voluntarily tendered me.
" Charging rayself with the money received at Washington
for the purposes indicated, the $150,000 levied upon this city
for the immediate benefit of this arm\', in lieu of pillage, tbe
proceeds of captured tobacco taken frora the Mexican govern
ment, and with some other sraall suras, all of which I sball
strictl\' account for, I have, on the other hand, expended
$63,745.57 in blankets and shoes gratuitously distributed to
enlisted men; $10,000 extra on account of hospitals, allowing
$10 each to every crippled man discharged or furlougbed ; some
§60,000, I think, for secret services, including a native spy com-

4G2 3IE310IRS OF A
pany, whose pay, commencing in July, I did not wish to bring
into account with the treasury, and I enclose herewith a draft
for $100,000, making up according to the memorandum, aXso
enclosed. I hope you will allow the draft to go to the credit of
the Army Asylum, and make the subject known in the way you
may deem best to the military committees of Congress. That
sum is in sraall part the price of the Araerican blood so gal
lantly shed in ,this vicinity, and, considering that the array
receives no prize money, I repeat the hope tbat its proposed
destination may be approved and carried into effect.
" Number one, uf the same set of bills, is this day transmitted
direct to the Bank of Araerica.
" The reraainder of tbe money in my hands, as well as tbat
expended, I shall be ready to account for at the proper time and
in tbe proper manner, merely offering tbis itnperfect report to
explain, in the mean tirae, the character of the $100,000 draft.
"I have the honor to remain, with high respect, sir, your
obedient servant, "AViNFiELD Scott.
" Tha Honorable .Sscretary of War.
"Memorandum of account between Major-General Winfield
Scott and Paymaster B. Kirby, at the city of Mexico, in the
matter of the Asylum Fund.
" 1848, .lanuary 19. By araount of garabling license,
moneyreceived from Brigadier-General P. F. Sniith $9,000.00
" February 3. By the check of General Scott on Man-
nina and Mackintosh . 26,000.00
"February 3. By proceeds of tobacco sales received
from Captain Lowry, account of late Captain Irwin 49,569.44
"February 5. Bythe check of Captain Grayson in
favor of Surgeon Satterlee . . . 2,650.40
" February 5. By the check of General Scott on Man
ning and Mackintosh . 12,780.16

$100,000.00
"Balance by my bill of exchange No. 18, in triplicate, in favor
of Majoi'-General Winfield Scott, upon the Paymaster-General,
at ten days, at Bank of Araerica, §100,000.
" [No. 18.] Pay of the array, $100,000.

3IARTLAND VOLUNTEER. 453
"City of jrExico, .Innuary 21, 1848.
"At ten days' sight, for value received, please pay this ray
second of exchange (the first and third being unpaid) to the
order of ]\Injor-(ieneral Winfield Scott, one hundred thousand
dollars, on account of the pay of the array, for which I am
accountable to the treasury. Payable at the Bank of Araerica,
city of New York, without further advice. " E. Kirby,
" Acting chief of the Pay Dppartmpnt at the headquarters of the armv.
Brigadier-General N. Totvson,
Paymaster-General United States Army,
City of AA'ashington.''
[Endorsed] "The Bank of Araerica, city of New York, will place the
within araount to the credit of the Army Asyluni, subject to
the order of Congress. " AVlKFIELD lScOTT,
" Major-General, etc."
Here Avas one hundred thousand dollars, the pro
ceeds of gambling licenses, sales of captured tobacco,
a levy upon a captured city, assigned for the benefit
of an array under the immediate coraraand of one
Avho had distributed raoney to his soldiers without
the shadoAV of other laAv than his own will. What
raight not a bad man do under similar circumstances,
is the query I Avish ray countryraen to consider Avhen
Avar is suggested or advised.
I have said that General Scott was a pure raan.
He Avas, and so Avas General Taylor ; and fortunate
for our inhmt republic Avas the sterling integrity
and genuine patriotism of its two chiefs in the war
with Mexico.
Peiia y Peitia Avas again provisional President of
Mexico, by virtue of his office as Chief Justice of the

464 3IEM0IRS OF A
Supreme Court, succeeding Anaya, whose term of
office expired by limitation on the 8th of January,
1848, and Avho accepted the office of Secretary of
War under Pena y Pena. Senor Rosa Avas the Sec
retary of State, Avith whom the chief responsibility
of the new governraent rested. Its difficulties Avere
innumerable, its dangers great and imminent. Pro
tecting itself against the unfounded charge of bartering
the national honor, it Avas at the same time resisting
the pronunciaraentos of Paredes and the insurrec-
tiontiry movements of Alvarez ; combating the friends
of monarchy, and raaintaining the array of Busta
raente at Queretaro ; struggling Avith honest zeal to
keep aliA^e and intact the governraent of their coun
try, these officials, with Riva Pahicios, the Minister
of Justice, had to raeet the stormy opposition of the
majority of their countryraen and the vindictive
raachiiiations of disappointed generals, while endeav
oring to heal the AA'ounds of Mexico by an honorable
peace Avith its invaders.
In an able address to the nation, Seiior Rosa said
truly " That the existing government was that which had been
forraed when the country was without a head, and all tile ele
raents of strength and order were in utter confusion, and that
one of the principal causes of the inability of the government
to carry on tbe war was owing to the action of tbe generals in
dispersing the array when discouraged by the results of the bat
tles in the environs of the capital. The statements and insinua
tions that an ignominious treaty of peace had been concluded
were caluranies. It is a calumny to assert that the national
government has humbled itself to send propositions of peace to
the cabinet at Washington, or that it has offereii, in order to

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 455
terminate the war, advantages which the same cabinet did not
exact. His Excellency the President authorizes me to give the
lie to these calumnies, and to assure you that, in the midst of
the misfortunes of the country, the national honor has not been
tarnished, and will not be under tbe present government, even
should the condition of the republic become worse tban it is.
But it is also resolved to make peace, if the end of putting a
stop to tbe calamities of a bloody aud disastrous contest, which
has Ijeen so long continued, can be accomplished."
This bold defense of the governraent, and its
aA^OAval of a determination to make peace, preceded a
circular frora the same minister, dated February 6,
1848, in which he announced to the Governors of
States that the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo had
been concluded. The main and chief difficulty of
the adrainistration of Pena y Peiaa Avas to .secure its
ratification by a Congress not in esse. An arraistice
had been wisely agreed upon by commissioners of tbe
Mexican governraent, Generals Mora y Vilhirail
and Quijano, and Generals Worth and Smith on the
part of the Araericans, in pursuance of an article in
the treaty. One of the articles of this arraistice is
so notable, and its being announced in General Or
ders No. 18, March 6, 1848, the occasion of its being
obeyed by the troops of our garrison at Jalapa, that
1 give it entire :
"Aeticle 6. Whenever an election is to be held in any town
or place occupied bythe American troops, upon due notice thereof
being given to the comraanding officer, he shall raarch the whole
ofhisforce outoftbe liraits of such town orplace.and there remain
with them until after the hour at which such elections should be
concluded, leaving within the town or place ouly the force neces
sary for the security of bis barracks, hospitals, stores, and
30

466 MEMOIRS OF A.
quarter.s. And no person belonging to the American army shall
by any means, or on any consideration, attempt to obstruct or
interfere with any elections, in order that tbey may be conducted
according to Mexican laws. In Vera Cruz the troops shall
retire within the walls of the fortifications, and there remain until
the election is concluded "
This article was introduced by the Mexican com
missioners doubtless to save the government from the
chiirge of the Congressmen to be elected being the
choice of the American array. At any rate the arti
cle met with great disfavor in our army, though I
believe it Avas the result of Avise counsel, as was
proved in the end.
It had leaked out that Ncav Mexico and California
had been ceded to us; and though it Avas likewise
knoAvn Ave Avere to give Mexico fifteen raillions of dol
lars, yet there Avas violent opposition to the cession of
any territory, and members elect to Congress Avere
afraid to a.ssemble to assume the responsibility of
severing the national domain. New elections Avere
ordered, the government vigorously prosecuting its
measures looking to the ratification of the treaty it
had raade, raany wealthy citizens lending the aid of
raoney and their influence, and finally the clergy sec
onding its efforts to assemble a congress at Queretaro.
The treaty had been sent to the United States, as
the Secretary of War had been advised by General
Scott, on the ¦2d of February, and early in March it
Avas ratified by the Senate of the United States, to
Avhom it had been transmitted by President Polk for
its action. There Avere but slight modifications to
the original articles, and to consummate the treaty

MARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 4^Q'J
Messrs. Sevier, of the Senate, and Attorney-General
Clifford, having previously resigned their respective
offices, Avere sent as commissioners to the seat of the
Mexican government.
BetAveen the 5th of March and the 2d of June,
1848, the beginning and the end of the arraistice
agreed upon as a condition of the treaty, the fate of
Mexico for a long series of years was to be settled.
In this period the elections took place, and the
choice for President was General Don Jose Joaquin
de Herrera, a native of Jalapa, of whose good narae
and character I liaA^e heretofore spoken. A Congress
met, but there Avas no quorum until the -Sd of May,
though the election of Herrera had just shoAvn that
a change for the better had been effected, and the
folly of continuing a war Avhile Mexico was in such
a distracted condition had been seen and felt by the
good men of all parties.
Peiaa y Peiia, still at the helra, as the tirae for the
inauguration of Herrera had not yet arrived, strongly
urged upon Congress the ratification of the treaty;
the seasonable arrival of the Araerican coraraissioners
at Queretaro closed up the business so long, so
anxiously, so earnestly labored for and desired, in
the ratification of the treaty by the Mexican Congress
on the 24th day of May, 1848.
The main features of this treaty Avere that Mexico
gave to the United States the territories of Ncav
Mexico and California, and relinquished all claim to
Texas and the country between the Nueces and the
Rio Grande. In consideration of these grants, the
United States Avere to pay to Mexico the sum of

468 ME 310 IRS OF A
fifteen millions of dollars, and to assume the debts due
by Mexico, estimated at three millions of dollars, to
American citizens.
Thus I lived to see the Avar ended, and the objects
for Avhich I had taken up arms successfully vindicated.
I sincerely hoped that a peace, lasting and honorable,
betAveen the tAvo republics Avould continue, and that
tho.se Avho had fought against each other would hence
forth and for ever be friends and allies.

CHAPTER XLIII.
EXD OF THE WAR — WE LEAVE MEXICO.
On the 29th day of May, 1848, at the city of
Mexico. Major-General Butler announced in general
orders that the ivar toas ended, and that the object of
it, a treaty of peace, just and honorable to both
nations, had been duly ratified.
On the 12th of June the Araerican flag Avas loAvered
from the National Palace, under a salute from Mexican
batteries in the grand square, the Mexican flag
hoisted with the sarae corapliraent, and Worth's Divi
sion, the rear of our array, raarched out of the city of
Mexico. On the afternoon of the 15th we received orders
to get ready to leave, and I copy frora ray journal :
June 16. At sunrise our regiment was formed in
the plaza, and shortly after Ave took up our line of
march for home. , We halted for a short time at the

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 469
garita of Vera Cruz, and I turned to take a last look
at Jalapa, the garden of Mexico, and never had it
seeraed raore beautiful. I really regretted to leave it,
and our Avhole coraraand seeraed to feel with rae.
We had abundant evidence of the good-will of
many of its citizens, and I can unhesitatingly say that
our departure Avas looked upon Avith sincere regret by
a large portion of its people.
We halted and encamped at Encerro, Avhere the
Avhole of the volunteers were lying, except the Massa
chusetts and Pennsylvania regiments, which had
moved off that morning.
¦Tune 17. The reveille Avas beat at 2 o'clock a.m.,
and with a bright moonlight we raarched to Plan del
Rio ; we halted for the day at our old post, the
National Bridge, and as soon as the ranks Avere broken,
the men ran like boys out of school to visit the Avell-
remembered haunts of former days.
¦June 18 — Sunday. In the raidst of heavy rain Ave
left this raorning at o o'clock and raarched to the San
Juan, where Ave halted to dry our blankets and Avet
clothing in the sun. At 8 o'clock p.m. avc resumed
our raarch, and at 1 o'clock A.M., the raorning of the
19 th, Ave arrived at Vergara ; as soon as the guns Avere
stacked, one rush was made, and the regiment Avas
bathing in the Avaters of the Gulf Oh, the luxury of
this bath !
¦fune 19. There being no vessels ready for us to
embark in, and the Massachusetts and Pennsylvania
regiments aAvaiting their turn ahead of us, I pitched
my tent on the sands, in the identical place where I
had put it when we landed last August.

470 MEMOIRS OF A
June 20. This morning, with colors flying and
music sounding, the Second Pennsylvania Regiment
marched along the beach past our carap to erabark
from the mole at Vera Cruz ; several vessels are to be
seen in the offing, and Ave are in great hopes our turn
will come in a feAv daA'S.
Jime 21. This morning the Fourth Ohio Regiment
marched past and embarked on a large ship lying oft'
the castle.
June 22 — Thursday. Happy day, aud adieu to
Mexico. At sunrise Ave struck our tents, and, marching
through the city to the mole, Ave got on board a small
stearaer and Avere transferred to the decks of the
stearaer Jaraes L. Day, bound for New Orleans. As
the steamer's capacity Avas not sufficient for our Avhole
regiment, Companies A and F Avere embarked on the
tran.sport schooner Velasco, for the .same destination.
At noon Ave got under Avay, and, passing under the
frownina: Avails of San Juan de Ulloa, before ni^ht the
shores of Mexico had disappeared frorn our vicAv. We
Avatched its receding land, full of eraotion ; all eye.s
Avere turned toward it, and as it faded from the sight
men looked at each other as if they Avere parting from
home and frora friends, so raany had been the incidents
and associations of ten raonths' service in that country.
Soon there arose the favorite song of the regiment,
" Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean ;" and the voices of
five hundred raen swelled the anthera, " To the shrine
of each patriot's deA'otion."
June 26. At noon Ave Avere in sight of the cupola
of the St. Charles Hotel, and in the Mississippi, abreast
of General Jackson's lines, so memorable in the history

31 A RYLAND VOLUNTEER. 474
of the war Avith Great Britain. In an hour Ave were
abreast of the levee in New Orleans, Avhen Colonel
Hughes Avent ashore for orders. We Avere ordered
to proceed up the riA^er to the Carrollton race-course,
distant eight railes, and go into camp there.
¦ Our surgeon, Dr. Stedman R. Tilghman, was
sent on shore for raedical treatment ; he had been
gradually sinking for the past foiir or five months,
but none of us had serious apprehensions about his
condition. He was rauch Avorse than Ave thought ;
going to see hira on the ensuing day, I told him that
if he Avished me to remain I could easily get perrais
sion to do so. He rose from his cot, and replied,
that I should go Avith the regiment, and that
if it Avere his hist request, he begged rae to leave.
Poor Tilghman! this was my last interview Avith
him ; Ave had been inseparable friends and corapanions
since our first night on the beach together at Vera
Cruz. The cliraate had been too trying on his con
stitution, and he succumbed to its influence. De
scended frora a Maryland family distinguished fur its
services to the country, he had abandoned the prac
tice of his profession in the civil Avalks of life, to enter
the array; an enthusiast in the science of raedicine
and surgery, he gave the Avhole of his energies and
his superior natural and acquired abilities to their
study and practice. No raore faithful officer in the
line of his duty could be found, no raore honorable
gentleman, than Surgeon Tilghraan, of the District of
Columbia and Maryland Regiment of Voluuteers.
He died at Nbav Orleans, surrounded by sorroAving
relatives and friends, on the 28th of July, 1848.

472 3IE310IRS OF A
June 27. It being ruraored that Ave Avere to be
sent by sea frora here to Baltiraore, and the raen
being A^ery averse to another sea-voyage in a trans
port ship, I Avent into the city of Ncav Orleans, and
returned Avith orders that Ave should go home by the
way of the river.
June 28. Embarked on board the steamer John
Hancock, and ascended the Mississippi. We spent
the Fourth of July, the stearaer htilting for the pur
pose of accominodating us, itt a noted place on the
Ohio RiA-er, called " Cave in the Rock." A large con
course of the neighboring people had gathered here
to attend a barbecue. Avhich was largely attended by
our regiraent. and I think that the celebration of the
Fourth of July at that barbecue Avill long be remem
bered at the '' CaA^e in the Rock."
¦July 7. Arrived at Cincinnati ; on the 9th — Sun
day — the stetimer Taglioni, on board Avhich AA'ere some
Pennsylvania troops, came alongside and comraenced
racing; for several hours, Avhile under full speed, Ave
Avere locked together, the raen frora either boat jurap-
ing on to the other ; a scene of confusion and danger
ous excitement ensued, Avhich the officers of both
regiments found it irapossible to subdue or suppress.
We expected every moment an explosion or the boats
being set on fire frora the fuel Avhich was being put
on the fires to increase the stetim. We Avere finally
separated, a volley of oaths being fired by the crcAvs
of the tAVO steamers, Avhose animosity against each
other .seemed fierce and unrelenting.
¦fuh/ 10. At 9 o'clock a.m. Ave neared Pittsburs:.
the Taglioni close behind us. A steamer came down

31 A RYLAND VOLUNTEER. 473
to US from the city with a committee of reception
on board ; Ave were to be received with all honors by
the authorities. The Committee's steamer and the
Taglioni made fast to the John Hancock, and the
three approached the levee, Avhere thousands had
assembled to greet our arrival. We landed amid vo
ciferous cheering, firing of cannon, ringing of steara-
boat bells, etc. Our reception was enthusiastic and
highly gratifying; Ave paraded through the city, and
from all hands and quarters the evidences of a hearty
Avelcome Avere shoAvered upon us.
July 12. When Ave landed, we were raet with a
telegraphic dispatch frora the Adjutant-General U. S.
Arrny, giving the regiraent the option of being dis
charged at Pittsburg or Baltimore After manv
consultations and much difference of opinion, the
resjiment elected to be dischara;ed here, and receive
alloAvance for travel to Baltiraore.
July 15. This eA'ening the Pennsylvania officers
gave a handsorae entertainraent to the officers of our
regiraent, at which I Avas present, and Ave parted as Ave
had served, — as friends and corarades.
The First Penn.sylvania Regiraent arrived to-day,
and raany of its officers participated in the festivities
of the evening.
July 20. Our corapanies having all been dis
charged and my duties ended, I left Pittsburg for
BroAvnsville by the Monongahela RiA'er. Reaching
here, I had corae by steara direct frora Vera Cruz well
up into the interior of PennsAdvania, and Avas tired of
steamboat navigation. I felt delighted to ride in a
stage-coach, which I did to Cumberland, Maryland,

474 ME3I0IRS OF A
and thence by rail to Baltimore and my horae, the
home of my parents.
On the 24th day of July, 1848, I Avas honorably
discharged from the service at Fort McHenry ; and,
closing these raeraoirs of tAvo years in the armies of
the United States,' I bid you, my corarades, friends,
and corapanions of the Battalion of Baltimore and
Washington Volunteers, and the District of Colura
bia and Maryland Regiment, an affectionate good-by.
I know you Avell ; and the memorj' of the fidelity, the
readiness, and the good nature Avith Avhich you per
formed all the duties required of an Anierictxn soldier
in the field, Avill foreA'er be associated with the proud
recollection of your continuous acts of kindness done
to rae Avhile serving Avith you in the War Avith
Mexico. Once more — Good-by.

CHAPTER XLIV.
CONCLUSION.
The array and navy of the United States had co
operated zealously and had served harraoniously to
gether in the prosecution of the Avar. In the far west and
on the shores of the Pacific. Coramodores Sloat, Stock
ton, Shubrick, Samuel F. Dupont, Avith Comraanders
Selfridge and Lavellette, had fought the seamen and
marines side by side Avith the soldiers of Generals John
C. Fremont, Kearney, Wm. H. Emory, Price, and
Mason ; at San Jose, the life of a gallant young officer

31ARYLAND VOLUNTEER. 47,5
of the navy. Midshipman Tenant McClenahan, of Bal
timore, Avas lost in one of the raany corabats fought on
that distant shore, and the possession of all the ports
on the Pacific frora San Francisco to Guayaraas raarked
the successful career of the tAvo arras of the service. Tn
the Gulf, the blockading and capture of all the ports
of Mexico displayed the zeal and arduous services of
the navy, and the capture of Vera Cruz and the cas
tle of San Juan de Ulloa Avas in a great degree suc
cessful, by reason of the poAverfully efficient fleet of
Coramodores Connor and Perry, and the courage and
skill of its seamen and marines ; so that at the end of
the Avar the Avhole nation looked Avith pride upon its
array and n.avy, and everywhere Avas heard exultation
at the victories won by their A'alor.
The governraent of the United States had Avaged a
foreign Avar upon a dLstant theatre ; it had raised and
transported troops to that country; its generals had
fought battles and gained thera ; it had dictated
terras of peace and they were granted ; its armies had
been brought home and Avere disbanded ; and now the
Republic, scarce half a century old, could contemplate
Avith the pride of a veteran the results of the battles
it had fought.
Look at the map ; all the territory betAveen the 32°
50' and 40° north latitude, and 106° and 124° Avest
longitude, had been acquired by the United States :
all of New Mexico and Arizona, California, Utah,
and Nevada, Avith the gold fields hdng unknown
in the lap of the new acquisition. The area of this
district of country is greater than that covered by the
States of Maine, Nbav Hampshire, Vermont. Maasachu-

476 31E3IOIRS OF A 3IARYLAND VOLUNTEER.
setts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Penn
sylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Iowa, and
Wisconsin. But this land and this gold in its bosom
are as nothing to the poAver gained by the Republic
in haA'ing its grasp upon the Avaters of the ocean, that
bathes the Indias and the islands of the South Seas.
The human mind is not broad enough to compass
the torrent of traffic and travel that is destined to
flow through this western gate of the Republic ; if we
held the Isthraus of Panaraa, the keys to the Avorld's
comraerce Avould be at Washington ; holding as we do
the harbor of San Francisco, the raerchants coraraand
the trade of the East, Avhich Avill bring wealth and
prosperity along Avith its teas and its silks.
If Ave Avere to try, Ave could not lose the advantages
gained by the Avar Avith Me.xico : they are incalcu
lable — the future alone Avill raise the veil.
May the sarae future be propitious to Mexico and
all classes of its people ! the causes of its internecine
strife and destructive political action are plain to our
mind — these result from attempting to settle their
differences of opinion by a resort to arras. Mexicans!
believe one who Avishes you Avell ; bury in the earth
for ten years every fire-arra ; pledge each other,
siraply upon the honor of men, not to take thera up
again for that length of time ; and my Avord for it,
you will regain confidence in each other ; and that Avill
establish a government of your choice, a government
that Avill be unstained with the curse of Mexican
blood shed by Mexican hands. Bury your fire-arras,
and remember that the Avomen of your land are
struck by every bullet fired into a brother's breast.

APPENDIX

MEMOIRS OF A MARYLAND VOLUNTEER.

AVAR WITH MEXICO IN THE YE.A.RS 1846-7-8.

(477)

APPENDIX.

List of the Officers of the First Battalion of Baltimore and
Washington Volunteers.
FIELD AND STAFF.
Lieutenant-Colonel William H. Watson, commanding: com
missioned June, 1846; killed at Monterey, Mexico, Septem
ber 21, 1846. Robert C. Buchanan, commanding, Brevet-
Major U.S.A.* Assistant Surgeon George M. Dove, resigned
August 8, 1846. Assistant-Surgeon Smythe M. Miles, mus
tered out May 30, 1847. Adjutant F. B. Schaeffer, mustered
out of service as captain May 30, 1847. Adjutant William E.
Aisquith, mustered out of service May 30, 1847.
COMPANY OFFICERS.

1

WHEN

COM TANT.

RANK.

! ?rAME.

COJIM B.

1846.
A.
Captain.
James E. Steuart.
May 30.
Mustered out of service
Baltimore
at Tampico, May 30,
company.
1847
1st Lieut.
¦ F. B. Owen.
"
Resigned at Tampico.
2(1 Lieut.
i Samuel Wilks.
"
Mustered out of service at
Tampico. Mav :30. 1S47.
¦lA Lieut.
Duvid P. ChniJiuan.
Elected at Camargo, bept.
1, 1846. Mustered out
May 30, 1847.
B.
Captain.
James Piper.
3Iav 30.
Mustered out May 30,
Baltimore
1847.
company.
1st Lieut.
Lawrence Dolan.
Resigned after battle of
Monterey. Service sec
ond time as Captain in
Second Battalion.
'-¦¦ Brevet-M.ijov-General U.S. -A.rmy. He commanded a Brigade of Regulars in the Peninsula
campaign and at the battle of Antietam ; subsequently he was in command of the District
of Louisiana, 1861-5.
(479)
480

APPENDIX.

B Co.— Cont.

"Washington company.

R\SK.

2d Lieut.

2d Lieut.

Captain.

1st Lieut.

2d Lient.

. 2J Litut.

2d Lieut.

B.
Wasliinijton

E.
Baltimore
company.

F.
Baltimore company.

Captain.
lat Lieut.

2d Lieut.
Captain.

M. K. Taylor.

J. H. Marrows.

WHEN
comm'd.

184G.
May 3U.

Robert Bronaugh. , May 30.

Phineas B. Bell

William O'Brien.
Thonias M.Gl«ason.

Jacob Hemmick.

John Waters.
William J. Parham,

Eugene Hovle.

May 30.

Eflward Murphy,
John R, Kenly, | June 4.

lot Lieut. F. B. Schaeffer.

William E. Aisquith

Captain.

.Tames Boyd.

l~t Lit-ut. Jo-^. II. Ruddach.f

June i

Mustered out May 30,
1847, whilst detached.
Service second time as
C;(j)taiii in fci.'ciiiid Bat
talion.
ElectedatCamargo. Mus
tered out May 30. 1847.
Second time a> Lieu
tenant iu Second Bat
talion.
Resigned at Tampico,
1847, afterwards killed
by the eneniynear Pue-
b!ii, Mexicu.
Resigni'd. Service second
time as private.
Resi;rned.Com d by the President.
Appointed A. A. C. S.
Mustered out Mtiy 30,
1^47.
Elected after battle of
Monterey, Oct. ^(i. 1S46.
Miistereil out May 3i),
l'^47. Service second
tune as Ser;:eant iu
Cipt. Schaeffer's Com
ii. my.
Resigned.
Rt^-it:ned at the Brazos
Santiago, July. la4ij.
Ri'-MLHied titter' hattip of
I\lonterev on itccuiint uf
ill health, ami di.'d un
liis w;iy tu tlie United
States.
Elected Sept. 27, l'^46.
Mustered uut May 30.
1>47.
.^lustei'ed out at Tampico,
May 30, 1847. S*Tvice
second time as Major of
Second Battalion.
Adjutant of Battalion.
Mustered out Jlay 30,
1847. Service second
time as Captain.
Resigned at Tampico by
reason of promotion to
the U. S. Army, ami !ip-
puinted Captain C. S,
Army.
Elected at Camargo, Sept.
1. 1846. Adjutant of
Battalion, and inii-.-
teri^d out May iiO, 1847.
Mustered out May 3i),
l.'?47. Remained in Tam-
inco, raided a comjiany
of driiguuns. and was
killed bv the enemy
July, 1847.
Resigned at Tampico.

* Governor of the State of Maryland from 1868 to 1872.
I Resigned at Tampico on account of ill health, March 1847.

APPENDIX.

481

COMPANY.

It.VNK.

NAME.

1 WHEN
comm'd.

REUAUKS,

1846.

F Qo.—runt.
2d Lieut.
Robert E. Ilaslett.
¦luue 8.
ResignedatTampico. Ser
vice second time as
Lieutenant of Dragoons,
C S. Armv.
2d Lieut.
Jamei Taneyhill.
Elected Sept. 1. 1846.
Mustered out Mav 30,
1847. Remained \vifh
Captain Boyil as LIl'U-
tenant of his company,
and shared his fate, !.<•-
ing mortally wounded
in the same action.
NON-COMMISSIONED STAFF.
Sergeant-Major William S. Reed, discharged from the service September 1, 1846, Quarter
master Srrgeant John Iluuper, i!i-^cliargrd from the service December 3,1846; service secuiid
timo'as Lieutenant in Second Battaliou. Sit irpanr-Major Alfred Day, appointed Sertreani-
>Lijor Si-ptember 1, 1846 ; discharged on surgeons certificate X<jvfmber 12, 1846, S'-r-
geant- Major Richard W. Rcaney, appointed Sergeant-Major September 14,1840; reduced
to the ranks by or<ler of Major Buchanan. Sergeaut-Major ^Villiam (r. Lennox, appointed
Sergeant-Major by Major Buchanan Fi'bruary 1^. 1 -47 ; mustered out May on, \\A7 ; service
-L-cond time us S>a-gGaut in Captain Schaeffer'rj Company. Quartermaster Sergeant William
.¦r. Hyde, mustered out May 30, 1&47.
List of Officers of the District of Columbia and Maryland
Regiment of Volunteers, enlisted for service during the war
with 3Iexico, Jane and July, 1847. Honorably discharged from
the service July 24, 1848, at the end of the war.
COLONEL.
George W. Hughes* (Captain and Brevet-Lieutenant-Colonel
Topographical Engineers).
* Colonel Hughes was a graduate of the military academy of
West Point, and a captain in the corps of Topographical
Engineers, United States Army. He was brevetted major "for
gallant and meritorious conduct at the battle of Cerro Gordo,"
and lieutenant-colonel " for meritorious conduct while serving in
enemy's country" during the war with Mexico. He resigned
from the army in 1851, and was eiecced to the Congress of the
31
4 82 APPENDIX.
LIEUTENANT-COLONEL.
William H. Emory* (First Lieutenant and Brevet-Major Topo
graphical Engineers) MAJOR.
John R Kenlyf (Captain in Watson's Baltimore Battalion).
SURGEON.
Stedman R. Tilghman. ASSISTANT-SURGEON.
Wakeman Bryarly. ADJUTANT.
.James Steele (Second Lieutenant). CAPTAINS.
William H. Degges.
Edmund Barry.
Lawrence Dolan (Lieutenant in Watson's Battalion;.
Dan Dralie Henrie (Texan Ranger).
Marcellus K. Taylor (Lieutenant in Watson's Battalion).
Francis B. Scbaeifer (Lieutenant in Watson's Battalion).
George W. Brown.
Lloyd Tilghman (Light Artillery Company).
FIRST LIEUTENANTS.
Frederick A. Klopfer (commanding Company D).
Henry S. Addison.
United States as a member of the House of Representatives
Abandoning the political arena, he devoted himself to agricul
tural pursuits, and died at his estate on West River, Maryland,
in the year 1871, greatly regretted by family and friends.
* Brevet-Major-General L^.S. Army. He commanded the
Nineteenth Army Corps in Louisiana and Texas, and snbse-
Miientlv in the Army of Yirginia to the end of the war, 1861-5.
f Colonel First Maryland Infantry and Brevet-Major-General
U.S. Volunteers, 1861-5.

APPENDIX.

48.3

John M. Thornton.
Frisby Tilghman.
Washington Hopper.
Isaac H. Morrow (Lieutenant in Watson's Battalion).
Jacob S. Klassen.
William J. Corcoran.
Jolin Hooper (Regimental Quartermaster; Quartermaster Ser
geant Watson's Battalion).

SECOND LIEUTENANTS.
John Carr (Acting Adjutant).
Benjamin R. West.
James O'Brien.
David A. GriflSth.
William H. Baker.
Richard P. Henry.
John H. Ballman.
Arnold Teusfield.
John H. Gronewell.
William J. Garey.
Henry M. Milnor.
Ira Mabbett.
Robert C. Bell.

List of Officers of Companies attached to the Regiment.

Chatam R. Wheat. Captain.
Charles McDonald. First Lieutenant.
Francis E. Sraith, Second Lieutenant.
Abner C. Steele, Second Lieutenant.
Thomas A. Rowley, Captain.
Andrew McClure. First Lieutenant.
James McLean, Second Lieutenant.
Alexander Scott, Second Lieutenant.

Company of ^Mounted
Volunteers ; served
from July, 1847, to
Jnly, IS 48.
Company of Infantry
from Pittsburg, Penn
sylvania ; served from
October, 1847, to July
24, 1848.

481

APPENDIX.

James Boyd,* Captain (Captain in
Watson's Battalion) ; killed, July
12, 1847.
Joseph R. West, Captain after death
of Captain Boyd.
James Taneyhill, First Lieutenant
(Lieutenant in Watson's Battal
ion); killed, July 12, 1847.
Franklin B. Nimocks, Second Lieu
tenant (Private in Captain Kenly's
Company, Watson's Battalion).
George De Groote, Second Lieu
tenant.
John A. Letten, Second Lieutenant.

Company of Mounted
Volunteers ; served
from June, 1847, to
July, 1848.

G.
Letter from Colonel George W. Hughes, U. S. Army.
West Riter, Maryland, January 2-3, 1851.
Mt Dear Kenly, — I have been directed to prepare an official
report in reference to our operations in Mexico, and wish you to
assist me, especially in regard to facts aud dates. I kept no
aiemoranda, and must therefore trust to recollection, assisted by
my letter-book. I will thank you to state the days of sailing
from Baltimore, the names of the transports (and captains),
companies, etc., respective times of arrival at Vera Cruz, time
of departure from Vera Cruz, and incidents of campaign, more
particularly till the capture of the National Bridge; also, the
designation of the troops, not of our battalion, that accompanied
us. What is Taliaferro's Christian name, and to what regiment

* Captain Boyd's company was raised at Tampico upon the
muster-out of the Baltimore Battalion. It served honorably
until the end of the war, losing heavily at the battle of Rio
Calabaso, fought by Colonel de Russey, of the Louisiana Vol
unteers, against tbe Mexican General Garay.

APPENDIX. 48,5
was he promoted as Major ? Have you the Regimental Order
Book ? Write me as fully as you can.
I am glad of the opportunity of doing justice (however tardy)
to my companions-in-arms, and especially to yourself.
Most truly your friend,
George W. Hughes.
Major John R. Kenlt, Baltimore.
Note. — Colonel Hughes left the army before he had com
pleted his report, and it was never sent to the Adjutant-Gene
ral's office.

Notification of 3Icmbership of the Association of the Soldiers
of the 3Iexican War.
W.vsHiNaTON, August 9, 1S54.
Sir. — I have the honor to inform you that, at tbe reorular
monthly meeting of the '¦ Association of the Soldiers of the Mexi
can War," you were unanimously elected an honorary member
of the Association. Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
(Signed) Joseph P. Shillenn,
Cur. Sec'v Association, etc.
Major John R. Kenly. Baltimore, Md.

Letter from 3Iaj or- General Wm. H. Emory, U. S. Army.
HEADQrABTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE GuLF,
New Orleans. September 30, 1872.
Mt Dear General Kenlt, — Tour letter of the 16th Septem
ber, and that preceding, followed me as far as Syracuse. N. T..
and back to this place, where they only reached rae to-day.
I hasten to reply, and take great pleasure in stating that the
Maryland Regiment, for the time it was under my comraand,
during and toward the close of the war with Mexico, acted uni-
formlv with great arallantrv, steadiness, and good conduct.

486 APPENDIX.
When I took command of the regiment as Lieutenant-Colonel
I had just returned from the expedition engaged in the conquest
of New Mexico and California, under the lamented General
James W. Kearney. There I served with what was then con
sidered one of the crack regiments of the army, the old First
Dragoons, and of course my ideas of discipline and efficiency
were pitched pretty high, yet I was not disappointed in either
the discipline or the efficiency of the gallant Maryland Regiment,
with which your name is so honorably identified.
Excuse the shortness of this note, and believe me very faith
fully yours, (Signed) W. H. Emory,
Brevet-Major-General U. S. Army.
General John R. Kenly, Baltimore, Md.

Resolutions and Acts of the General Assembly of 3Iaryland.
I.
Resolved, by the General Assembly of Maryland, That the
thanks of the General Assembly of Maryland are justly due and
are hereby tendered to the rank and file of the Baltimore and
District of Columbia Battalion, also to the Maryland Battaliou,
and all other officers and citizens of Maryland, serving inthe army
and navy of the United States, for gallant and meritorious con
duct during the late war with Me.xico.
Resolved, That the Governor be requested to make the above
resolution known in General Orders. — Passed January 29, 1850.

II.

Resolved, by the General Assembly of Maryland, That His
Excellency the Governor be respectfully requested to make ap
plication to the proper department at Washington, to obtain a
certified copy of all the muster and pay rolls, or other evidence
of the services of the commissioned and non-commissioned offi
cers, musicians, or privates of the State of ^Maryland, who were
iu the service of the United States in the war with Mexico ; and

APPENDIX. 487
upon application of any of those whose names appear upon said
rolls, or of the nearest relative of any deceased soldier therein
named, to furnish such person a copy of the sarae, duly authen
ticated with seal and signature. — Passed May 14, 1853.

III.
An Act authorizing the Governor to grant duplicate discharo-es
to the Maryland Volunteers aud certain citizens thereof, who
enlisted in the Mexican war.
Section I. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Mary
land, That the Governor be and he is hereby empowered and
directed, upon the application in writing of any volunteer officer
or soldier who served in the First or Second Battalions of Mary
land Volunteers in the Mexican war, or any citizen of Maryland
who enlisted in any company composing a portion of the ten
additional regiments called iuto service by Act of Coiigre.is
during the said war, and served therein ; and upon such
proof as he may deem necessary to establish such service and an
honorable discharge or muster-out from the same, to issue to
such volunteer or enlisted officer and soldier a copy or dupli
cate of the discharge received by him when so discharged or
mustered out of service, tfae said copy or duplicate to be printed
upou parchment and signed by the Governor, the Secretary .ji'
State, and Adjutant-General of Maryland, and attested by the
great seal of the State.
Sec. 2. And be it enacted. That the sum of five hundred dol
lars, or bO much thereof as may be necessary, be and the same
is hereby appropriated out of any unappropriated money now in
the Treasury, to defray the expenses of carrying into effect the
provisions of the first section of this act.
Sec. 3. And be it enacted. That this act shall take effect from
the day of its passage. — Passed March 10, 1854.

488

APPENDIX.

ID.
TREATY

THE UITITED STATES XKD MEXICO.

Treaty of peace, friendship, limits, and settlement between the
United States of America and the Mexican republic. Dated
at Guadalupe Hidalgo, February 2, 1848; ratified by the
President of the United States, 3Iarch 16, 1848; exchanged
at Queretaro, May 30, 1848; p)roclaimed by the President of
the United States, July i, 1848.

In the name of Almighty
God: The United States of Amer
ica and the United Mexican
States, animated by a sincere
desire to nut an end to the
calamities of the war which
unhappily exists between the
two republics, and to establish
upon a solid basis relations of
peace and friendship, which
shall confer reciprocal benefits
upon the citizens of both, and
assure the concord, harmony,
and mutual confidence wherein
the two people should live, as
good neighbors, have for that
purpose appointed their respect
ive plenipotentiaries, that is to
say, the President of the United
States has appointed Nicholas

En el nombre de Dios Todo-
Poderoso :
Los Estados Unidos ^lexi-
canos y los Estados Unidos
de America, animados de un
sincero deseo de poner termino
a las calamidades de la guerra
que desgraciadamente^ existe
entre arabas reptiblicas, y de es-
tablecer sobre bases s61idas re-
lacionesdepaz y buena amistad,
que procuren reciprocas venta-
jas a los ciudadanos de uno y
otro pais, y afianzen la Concor
dia, armonia y miitua seguridad
en que deben vivir, como buenos
vecinos, los dos pueblos han
nombrado d este efecto sus res-
pectivos plenipotenciarios; A
saber, el Presidente de la repii-
blica Mexicana A Don Bernardo

APPENDIX.

489

P. Trist, a citizen of the United
States, and the President of the
Mexican republic has appointed
Don Luis Gonzaga Cuevas, Don
Bernardo Couto and Don Mi
guel Atristain, citizens of the
said republic, who, after a re
ciprocal communication of their
respective full powers, have,
under the protection of Al
mighty God, the author of
peace, arranged, agreed upon,
and siu-ned the followins:

Couto, Don Miguel Atristain,
y Don Luis Gonzaga Cuevas,
ciudadanos de la misraa repu
blica ; y el Presidente de los Es
tados Unidos de America ii Don
Nicolas P. Trist, ciudadano de
dichos Estados; quienes des-
pues de haberse comunicado
sus plenos poderes, bajo la pro-
teccion del Senor Dios Todo-
Poderoso, autor de la paz, han
ajustado, convenido, y firmado
el siffuiente

Treaty of peace, friendship,
limits, and settlement between
the United States of America
and Ihe 3Iexicav republic.
Article I.
There shall be firm and uni
versal peace between the Uni
ted States of America and the
Mexican republic, and between
their respective countries, terri
tories, cities, towns, and people,
without exception of places
or persons. Article II.
Immediately upon the signa
ture of this treaty, a convention
shall be entered into between a
commissioner or commissioners
appointed by the general-in-
cbief of the forces of the United
States, and such as may be
appointed by the Mexican gov
ernment, to the end that a pro-

Tratado de paz, amistad, limi-
tes y arreglo definitive entre
la republica 3Iexicana y los
Estados Unidos de America.
Articulo I.
Habra paz firme y universal
entre la reptiblica ^Mexicana y
los Estados L'nidos de Araerica,
y entre sus respectivos paises,
territories, ciudades, villas, y
pueblos, sin escepcion de lu-
gares 6 persones. Articulo II.
Luego que se firme el pre-
sente tratado, habra un con-
venio entre el comisionado
11 comisionados del gobierno
Mexicano, y el 6 los que nom
bre el general-en-gefe de las fuer-
zas de los Estados Unidos, para
que cesen provisionalmente las
hostilidades, y se restablezca

490 APPENDIX.
visional suspension of hostilities en los lugares ocupados por las
shall take place, and that, in the mismas fuerzas el orden consti-
places occupied 'by the said tucional en lo politico, adminis-
forces, constitutional order may trativo, y judicial, en cuanto lo
be re-established, as regards permitan las circunstancias de
the political, administrative, and ocupacion militar.
judicial branches, so far as this
shall be permitted by the cir
cumstances of military occupa
tion. Article III. Articulo III.
Immediately upon the ratifi- Luego que este tratado sea
cation of the present treaty by ratificado por el gobierno de los
the government of the United Estados Unidos, se expediran
States, orders shall be trans- ordenes a sus comandantes de
mitted to the commanders of tierra y mar previniendo a estos
their land aud naval forces, re- segundos (siempre que el tra-
quirintc the latter (provided tado haya sido ya ratificado
this treaty shall then have been por el gobierno de la republica
ratified bv the government of Mexicana, y cangeadas las rati-
the Mexican republic, aud the ficaciones) que inmediatamente
ratifications exchanged) imme- alcen el bloqueo de todos los
diately to desist from blockad- puertosMexicanos, y mandando
iui;- any Mexican ports ; and re- a los primeros (bajo la misma
quiring the former (under, the condicion) que a la mayor posi-
same conditionj to commence, ble brevedad comiencen ii reti-
at the earliest moment practi- rar todas las tropas de los Esta-
cabie, withdrawing all troops dos Unidos que se halldren
of the United States then in the entonces en el interior de la re-
interior of the Mexican repub- piiblica Mexicana, a puntos que
lie, to the points that shall be se elegiran de comun acuerdo,
selected by common agreement, y que no distariin de los puertos
at a distance from the seaports mas de treinta leguas ; esta
not exceeding thirty leagues ; evacuacion del interior de la
aud .-uch evacuation of the in- reptiblica se consumera con
terior of the republic shall be la menor dilacion posible, com-
completed with the least possi- prometiendose a la vez el go-
ble delay; the Mexican govern- bierno Mexicano a facilitar.

APPENDIX.

491

ment hereby binding itself to
afford every facility in its
power for rendering the same
convenient to the troops, on
their march and in their new
positions, and for promoting a
good understanding between
them and the inhabitants. In
like manner, orders shall be dis
patched to the persons in char2:e
of the custom-houses at all
ports occupied by the forces of
the United States, requiring
them (under the saraecondition)
immediately to deliver posses
sion of the same to the persons
authorized by the Mexican eov-
ernment to receive it, together
with all bonds and evidences of
debts for duties on importations
and on exportations, not yet fal
len due. Moreover, a faithful and
exact account shall be made
out, showing the entire amount
of all duties on imports and on
exportscollectedatsuch custom
houses, or elsewhere in Mexico,
by authority of the United
States, from and after the day of
the ratification of this treaty by
the government of the Mexican
republic; and also an account
of the cost of collection ; and
such entire amount, deducting
only the cost of collection, shall
be delivered to the Mexican
government, at the City of
Mexico, within three months

cuanto queda en su arbitrio, la
evacuacion de las tropas Ameri-
canas ; a hacer comodas su
marcha y su pernianencia en
los nuevos puntos que se elijan ;
y ii proraover una buena iuteli-
gencia entre elias y los habi-
tantes. Igualmente se libraran
ordenes fi las personas encarga-
das de las aduanas maritiraas
en todos los puertos ocupados
por las fuerzas de los Estados
Unidos, previniendoles (bajo la
misma condicion) que pongan
inmediatamente en posesion de
dichas aduanas a las personas
autorizadas por el gobierno
Mexicano pararecibirilas, entre-
gandoles al raismo tiempo todas
las obligaciones y constancias
de deudas pendientes por dere
chos de iraportacion y exporta-
cion, cuyos plazos uo esten
vencidos. Ademas se foriuara
una cuenta fiel y exacta que
manifieste el total inonto de los
derechos de importacion y ex-
portacion, recaudados eu las
mismas aduanas raaritinias 6
en cualquiera otro lugar de
Mexico por autoridad de los
Estados Unidos desde el dia de
la ratificacion de este tratado
por el gobierno de la reptiblica
Mexicana; y tambien una cu
enta de los gastos de recauda-
cion ; y la total suma de los
derechos cobrados, deducidos

492

APPENDIX.

after the exchange of the ratifi
cations.

The evacuation of the capital
of the Mexican republic by the
troops of the United States, in
virtue of the above stipulations,
shall be completed in one month
after the orders there stipulated
for shall have been received by
the commander of said troops,
or sooner, if possible.

solamente los gastos de recau-
dacion, se entregara al gobierno
Mexicano en la ciudad de Me
xico d los tres mesas del cange
de las ratificaciones.
La evacuacion de la capital
de la republica Mexicana por
las tropas de los Estados
Unidos, en consecuencia de lo
que queda estipulado, se com-
pletara al mes de recibirse por
el comandante de dichas tro
pas las ordenes convenidas en
el presente articulo 6 antes si
fuere posible.

Article IV.
Immediately after the ex
change of ratifications of the
present treaty, all castles, forts,
territories, places, and posses
sions, which have been taken
or occupied by the forces of the
United States during the pres
ent war, within the limits of the
Mexican republic, as about to
be established by the following
article, shall be definitively re
stored to thq said republic, to
gether with all the artillery,
arms, apparatus of war, muni
tions, and other public prop
erty, which were in the said
castles and forts w hen captured,
and which shall remain there at
the time when this treaty shall
be duly ratified by the govern
ment of the Mexican republic.

Articulo IV.
Luego que se verifique el
cange de las ratificaciones del
presente tratado, todos los cas-
tillos, fortalezas, territories, lu
gares, y posesiones que hayan
tornado ii ocupado las fuerzas
de los Estados Unidos, en la
presente guerra, dentro de los
limites que por el siguiente
articulo van a fijarse a la repti
blica Mexicana, se devolveran
definitivamente il la misma re
publica, con toda la artilleria,
armas, aparejos de guerra, mu-
niciones, y cualquiera otra pro-
piedad ptiblica existentes en
dichos castillos y fortalezas,
cuando fueron tornados, y que
se conserve en ellos al tiempo
de ratificarse por el gobierno
de la reptiblica Mexicana el

APPENDIX. 493
To this end, immediately upon presente tratado. A este efecto,
the signature of this treaty, inmediatamente despues que se
orders shall be dispatched to firme, se expedirdn ordenes il
the American officers command- los oficiales Americanos que
ing such castles and forts, se- mandan dichos castillos y for-
curing against the removal or talezas para asegurar toda la
destruction of any such artil- artilleria, armas, aparejos de
lery, arms, apparatus of war, guerra, municiones, y cual-
munitions, or other public prop- quiera otra propiedad ptiblica,
erty. The City of Mexico, within la cual no podjd en adelante
the inner line of intrenchments removerse de donde se halla,
surrounding the said city, is ni destruirse. La ciudad de
comprehended in the above Mexico dentro de la linea in-
stipulations, as regards the res- terior de atrincheramientos que
toration of artillery, apparatus la circundan queda comprendida
of war, etc. en laprecedente estipulacionen
lo que toca a la devolucion de
artilleria, aparejos de guerra,
etc.
The final evacuation of the La final evacuacion del terri-
territory of the Mexican re- torio de la republica Mexicana
public, by the forces of the por las fuerzas de los Estados
United States, sball be com- Unidos quedara consumada a
pleted in three months from los tres meses uel cange de las
the said exchange of ratifica- ratificaciones, 6 antes si fuere
tions, or sooner, if possible ; the posible, comprometiendose a la
Mexican government hereby vez el gobierno Mexicano, corao
engaging, as in the foregoing en el articulo anterior, a usar de
article, to use all lueans in its todos los medios que esten en
power for facilitating such evac- su poder para facilitar la tal
uation, and rendering it con- evacuacion, hacerla comoda a
venient to the troops, aud for ]as tropas Americanas, y pro-
promoting a good understand- mover entre elias y los habi-
ing between them and the in- tantes una buena iuteligencia.
habitants. If, however, the ratification Sin embargo, si la ratificacion
of this treaty Iiy both parties ilel prceente tratado por arabas
should not take place in time partes no tuviera efecto en

494

APPENDIX.

tb allow the embarkation of the
troops of the United States to
be completed before the com
mencement of the sickly season,
at the Mexican ports on the
Gulf of Mexico, in such case
a friendly arrangement shall be
entered into between the gen
eral-in-chief of the said troops
and the Mexican government,
whereby healthy and otherwise
suitable places, at a distance
from the ports not exceeding
thirty leagues, shall be desig
nated for the residence of such
troops as may not yet have
embarked, until the return of
the healthy season. And the
space of tirae here referred to
as comprehending the sickly
season, shall be understood to
extend from the first day of
May to the first day of Novem
ber. All prisoners of war taken on
either side, on land or on sea,
shall be restored as soon as
practicable after the exchange
of ratifications of this treaty.
It is also agreed, that if any
Mexicans should now be held
as captives by any savage tribe
within the limits of the United
States, as about to be estab
lished by the following article,
the government of tfae United
States will exact tfae release
of siicfa captives, and cause

tiempo que permita que el
embarque de las tropas de los
Estados Unidos se complete,
dntes de que comience la esta-
cion malsana en los puertos
Mexicanos del golfo de Mexico ;
en tal caso, se hara un arreglo
amistoso entre el gobierno Mexi
cano y el general-en-gefe de
dichas tropas, y por medio de
este arreglo se senalaran lugares
salubresy convenientes (que no
disten de los puertos mas de tre
inta leguas) para que residan en
ellos hasta la vuelta de la esta-
cion Sana las tropas que ann
no se hayan embarcado. Y
queda entendido que el espacio
de tierapo de que aqui se babla,
corao comprensivode laestacion
malsana, se extiende desde el
dia primero de Mayo hasta el
dia primero de Noviembre.
Todos los prisioneros de
guerra tomados en mar 6 tierra
por ambas partes, se restituiran
a la mayor brevedad posible
despues del cange de las rati
ficaciones del presente tratado.
Queda tambien convenido que
si algunos Me.xicanos estuvieren
afaora cautivos en poder de
alguna tribu salvage dentro de
los liraites que por el siguiente
articulo van li, fijarse a los
Estados Unidos, el gobierno
de los mismos Estados Unidos

APPENDIX. 495
thera to be restored to their cxigini su libertad y los hard
country. restituir a su pais.
Article V. Articulo V.
The boundary line between La linea divisoria entre las
the two republics shall com- dos reptiblicas comenzarti en el
mence in the Gulf of Mexico, golfo de Mexico, tres leguas
three leagues from land, op- fuera de tierra frente a la des-
posite the mouth of the Rio embocadura del rio Grande,
Grande, otherwise called Rio llaraado por otro nombre rio
Bravo del Norte, or opposite Bravo del Norte, 6 del raas
the mouth of its deepest branch, profundo de sus brazos, si en la
if it should have raore than one deserabocadura tuviere varies
branch emptying directly into brazos ; cerrera por mitad de
the sea; from thence up the dicho rio, siguiendo el canal
middle ef tfaat river, following raas profundo, donde tenga mas
the deepest channel, where it de un canal, hasta el punto en
has mere than ene, to tfae point que dicho rio corta el lindero
where it strikes the southern meridional de Nuevo Mexico ;
boundary of New Mexico; continuani luego haciaoccidente
thence westwardly, along the por todo este lindero meridi-
whole southern boundary of onal (que corre al norte del
New Mexico (which runs north pueblo llaraado Paso) hasta su
of the town called Paso) to its termino por el lade de occidente;
western terraination; thence desde alii subira la linea divi-
northward, along the western soria hacia el norte por el
line of New ^Mexico, until it lindero occidental de Nuevo
intersects the first branch of Mexico, hasta donde este lin-
the river Gila (or if it should dere estti cortado por el primer
not intersect any branch of l)razo del rio Gila (y si no esta
that river, then to the point on cortado por ningun brazo del
the said line nearest to such rio Gila, entonces hasta el punto
branch, and thence in a direct del raismo lindero occidental
line to the same); thence down raas cercano al tal brazo, y de
the middle of the said branch alii en una linea recta al mismo
and ef the said river, until it brazo); continuara despues por
empties into the Rio Colorado; mitad de este brazo y del rio
thence across the Rio Colorado, Gila hasta su confluencia con el

496

APPENDIX.

following the division line be
tween Upper and Lower Cali
fornia, to the Pacific Ocean.

The southern and western
limits of New Mexico, men
tioned in tfais article, are those
laid down in the map, entitled
"3Iap of the United 3Iexican
States, as organized and de
fined by various acts of the
Congress of said republic, and
constructed according to the
best authorities. Revised edi
tion. Published at New York,
in 1847, by J. Disturnell." Of
which map a copy is added to
this treaty, bearing the signa
tures and seals of the under
signed plenipotentiaries. And,
in order to preclude all difficulty
in tracing upon the ground the
limit separating L^pper from
Lower California, it is agreed
that the said limit shall consist
of a straight line drawn from
the middle of the Rio Gila,
where it unites with the Colo
rado, to a point en the coast of
the Pacific Ocean distant one
marine league due south of the
southernmost point ef the port
of San Diego, according to the
plan of said port made in the
year 1782 by Don Juan Pantoja,
second sailing-master of the

rio Colorado; y desde la con
fluencia de ambos rios la linea
divisoria, certando el Colorado,
seguira el limite que separa la
Alta de la Baja California hasta
el mar Pacifico.
Los linderos meridional y oc
cidental de Nuevo Mexico, de
que habla este articulo, son los
que se marcan en la carta titu-
lada: "Mapa de los Estados
Unidos de Mexico segun lo
organizado y definido por las
varias actas del Congreso de
dicha republica, y construido
por las mejores autoridades.
Edicion revisada que publico
en Nueva York en 1847, -/.
Disturnell;" dela, caa,\ seagrega
un ejemplar al presente tratado,
firmado y sellado por los pleni
potenciarios infrascriptos. Y
para evitar toda dificultad al
trazar sobre la tierra el limite
que separa la Alta de la Baja
California, queda convenido que
dicho limite consistira en una
linea recta tirada desde la mitad
del rio Gila en el punto donde
se une con el Colorado, hasta
un punto en la cesta del mar
Pacifico, distaute una legua
marina al sur del punto mas
meridional del puerto de San
Diego, segun este puerto esta
dibujado en el piano que levanto
el ano de 1782 el segundo piloto
de la armada Espafiola Don

APPENDIX.

497

Spanish fleet, and published at Juan Pantoja, y se publico en
Madrid in the year 1802, in the Madrid el de 1802, en el atlas
atlas to the voyage of the para el viage de las goletas
schooners Sutil and 3Iexicana, Sutil y Mexicana ; del cual piano
of which plan a copy is hereunto se agrega copia firmada v se-
added, signed and sealed by the llada por los plenipotenciarios
respective plenipotentiaries. respectivos.
In order to designate the Para consiguar la linea di-
boundary line with due preci- visoria con la precision debida
sion, upon authoritative maps, en mapas fehacientes, y para
and to establish upon tfae establecer sobre la tierra mo-
ground landmarks which shall jones que pongan ;i la vista los
shew the limits of both repub- limites de arabas reptiblicas, se-
lics, as described in the present gun quedan descritos en el pre-
article, the two governraents sente articulo, nonibrara cada
shall each appoint a commis- uno de los dos gobiernos un
sioner and a surveyor, who, comisario y un agrimensor que
before tfae e.xpiration of one sejuntarrtn antes del terraino de
year from tfae date ef the ex- un ano contado desde la fecha
change of ratifications of tbis del cange de las ratificaciones
treaty, shall meet at the port de este tratado, en el puerto de
ef San Diego, and proceed to San Diego, y procederan a se-
run and mark the said bound- iialar y demarcar la expresada
ary in its wfaole course to the linea divisoria en todo su curse
mouth ef tfae Rio Bravo del faasta la deserabocadura del rio
Norte. Tfaey shall keep jour- Bravo del Norte. Llevaran
nals and raake out plans of diaries y llevantaran planes de
tfaeir operations ; and the result sus operaciones : y el resultado
agreed upon by them shall be convenido por ellos se tendrd
deemed a part of this treaty, por parte de este tratado, y
and shall have tfae sarae force tendra la misma fuerza que si
as if it were inserted therein, estuviese inserto en el ; debi-
The two governraents will ami- ende convenir amistosamente
cably agree regarding what may los des gobiernos en el arreglo
be necessary to these persons, de cuanto necesiten estos indi-
and also as to their respective viduos, y en la escolta respec-
escorts, should such be neces- tiva que deban llevar, siempre
sarv. que se crea necesario.
32

498

APPENDIX.

The boundary line established
by this article shall be relig
iously respected by each of the
two republics, and no change
shall ever be made therein, ex
cept by the express and free
consent of both nations, law
fully given by tfae general gov
ernment of each, in conformity
with its own constitution.

La linea divisoria que se es-
tablece per este articulo sera
religiosamente respetada por
cada una de las des reptiblicas,
y ninguna variacion se hara
jamas e.n ella, sino de exprese
ylibre consentimiento de ambas
naciones, otorgado legalmente
por el gobierno general de cada
una de elias, con arreglo ii su
propia censtitucion.

Article VI.
The vessels and citizens of
the United States shall, in all
time, have a free and uninter
rupted passage by the Gulf of
California, and by the river
Colorado below its confluence
with the Gila, to and from
their possessions situated north
of the boundary line defined in
tfae preceding article ; it being
understood tfaat this passage is
to be by navigating tbe Gulf of
California and tfae river Colo
rado, and not by land, without
the express consent of the Mexi
can government.
If, bythe examinations which
may be made, it should be as
certained to be practicable and
advantageous to construct a
road, canal, or railway, which
should in whole or in part run
upon tfae river Gila, or upon its
right or its left bank, within tbe
space of ene marine leasue from

Articulo VI.
Los buques y ciudadanos de
los Estados Unidos teudran en
todo tiempo un libre y no inter-
rumpido transito por el golfo de
California y per el rio Colorado
desde su confluencia con el Gila,
para sus posesiones y desde sus
posesiones sitas al norte de la
linea divisoria que queda mar-
cada en el articulo precedente ;
entendiendose que este transito
se ha de hacer navegando por
el golfo de California y per el
rio Colorado, y no por tierra,
sin exprese consentimiento del
gobierno Mexicano.
Si por reconocimientos que
se practiquen, se comprobare la
posibilidad y conveniencia de
censtruir un camiiio, canal, 6
ferro-carril, que en todo 6 en
parte corra sobre el rio Gila 6
sobre alguna de sus m:irirenes
derecha 6 izqiiierda en la latitud
de una leijua marina de uno 6

APPENDIX. 499
either margin of the river, the de otro lade del rio, los go-
governments of both republics biernos de arabas reptiblicas se
will form an agreement regard- pondnxn de acuerdo sobre su
ing its construction, in order construccion A fin de que sirva
that it may serve equally fer igualmente para el use y pro-
the use aud advantage ef both vecho de ambos paises.
countries. Article VII. Articulo VII.
The river Gila, and the part Como el rie Gila y la parte
of the Rio Bravodel Norte lyinar del rio Bravo del Norte que
below the southern boundary of corre bajo el lindero meridional
New Mexico, being, agreeably de Nuevo Mexico se dividen
te the fifth article, divided in the por mitad entre las dos reptibli-
middle between the two repub- cas, setrun lo establecide en el
lies, the navigation of the Gila articulo quinto, la navegacion
and of tfae Bravo below said en el Gila y en la parte ijue
boundary shall be free and com- queda indicada del Bravo, sera
mon to the vessels and citizens libre y comun ;l los buques y
of both countries ; aud neither ciudadanos de arabes paises,
shall, without the consent ef sin que por alguno de ellos
tfae etfaer, construct any work pueda faacerse (sin consenti-
that may impede or interrupt, miento del otro) ninguna obra
in whole or in part, the exercise que impido 6 interrumpa en
oftfaisright; notevenforthepur- todo 6 en parte el ejercicio de
pose of favoring new methods este derecho, ni aun con motive
of navigation. Nor shall any de favorecer nuevos metodos de
tax or contribution, under any navegacion. Tampoco se podrii
denomination or title, be levied cobrar (sine en el caso de des-
upon vessels, or persons navi- erabarco en alguna de sus ribe-
gating the same, or upon mer- ras)ninguoimpueste6contribu-
chandise or effects transported cion bajo ninguna denominacion
thereon, except in the case ef 6 titulo :t los buques, efectos,
landingupononeof theirsheres. mercancias 6 personas que nave-
If, for tfae purpose ef making guen en dichos rios. Si para ba
the said rivers navigable, or cerlosomantenerlosnavegables
for maintaining them iu such fuere necesario 6 conveniente
state, it should be necessary or establecer alguna contribucion

500

APPENDIX.

advantageous to establish any
tax or contribution, this shall
not be done without the con
sent of both governments.
The stipulations contained
in the present article shall not
impair the territorial rights of
either republic within its es
tablished limits.

6 impuesto, no podra esto ha-
cerse sin el consentimiento de
los dos gobiernos.
Las estipulacienes contenidas
en el presente articulo dejan
ileses les derechos territoriales
de una y otra reptiblica dentro
de les limites que les quedan
m arcades.

-Irticle viii.
Mexicans new established in
territories previously belonging
to Mexico, and which remain
for the future within the limits
ef the United States, as defined
by tbe present treaty, shall be
free to continue where they new
reside, or te remove at anytime
to the Mexican republic, retain
ing the property which they
possess in tfae said territories,
or disposing thereof, and re
moving the proceeds wherever
they please, without their being
subjected, on this account, to
any contribution, tax, or charge
whatever. Those who shall prefer to
remain in the said territories
may either retain the title and
rights of Mexican citizens, or
acquire those of citizens of the
United States. But they shall
be under the obligation to make
their election within one year
from the date of the exchange

Articulo VIII.
Los Mexicanos establecidos
hoy en territories pertenecientes
liutes it Mexico, y que quedan
para lo future dentro de los
liraites senalados per el pre
sente tratado ii, los Estados
Unidos, podran permanecer en
donde ahora habitan, 6 trasla-
darse en cualquier tiempo ;l
la reptiblica Mexicana, conser-
vando en les indicados terri
tories los bienes que poseen, 6
enagenandolos y pasando su
valor a donde les cenvenga, sin
que por esto pueda exigirseles
ningun genero de contribucion,
gravamen 6 impuesto.
Los que prefieran permanecer
en los indicados territories, po
dran conservar el titulo y dere
chos de ciudadanos Mexicanos,
6 adquirir el titulo y derechos de
ciudadanos de les Estados Uni
dos. Mas la eleccion entre una y
otraciudadaniadeberan hacerla
dentro de un aiio contado desde

APPENDIX. 501
of ratifications of this treaty; la fecha del cange de las ratifi-
and those who shall remain in caciones de este tratado. Y los
the said territories after tfae que permanecieren en los indi-
expiration of that year, without cades territories despues de
having declared their intention transcurrido el aiio, sin haber
te retain the character ef Mexi- declarado su intencion de re-
cans, shall be considered to have tener el canicter de Mexicanos,
elected to becorae citizens of the se considerarii que ban elegido
United States. ser ciudadanos de los Estados
Unidos.
Iu tfae said territories, prop- Las propiedades de todo
ertj' of every kind, now belong- genero existentes en los ex-
ing to Mexicans not established presados territories, y que per-
tfaere, shall be inviolably re- tenecen ahora ii Mexicanos uo
spected. The present owners, establecidos en ellos, seran res-
the heirs of these, and ail Me.xi- petadas inviolablemente. Sus
cans whe may hereafter acquire actuales dueSios, los herederos
said property by contract, ;:faall de estos, y los Mexicanos que
enjoy with respect to it guar- en lo venidero puedan adquirir
anties equally ample as if the por contrato las indicadas pro-
same belonged to citizens of the piedades, disfrutariin respecto
United States. de elias tan amplia garantia,
como si perteneciesen ii ciuda
danos de los Estados Unidos.
Article IX. Articulo IX.
The Mexicans who, in the Los Mexicanos que, en los
territories aforesaid, shall not territories antedichos, no con-
preserve the character of citi- serven el caracter de ciuda-
zens of tfae Mexican republic, danos de la reptiblica Mexicana,
conformably witb what is stipu- segun lo estipulado en el ar-
lated in tfae preceding article, ticulo precedente, seran incor-
shall be incorporated into the porades en la union de los
union of the United States and Estados Unidos, y se admitiran
be admitted at tbe proper time en tiempo oportuno (A juicio
(to be judged of by the Con- del Congreso de los Estados
gress of the United States) to Unidos) al goce de todos los
the enjoyment of all the rights derechos de ciudadanos de los

•502

APPENDIX.

of citizens of the United States,
according to the principles of
the Constitution ; and in the
mean time shall be maintained
and protected in the free enjoy
ment of their liberty and prop
erty, and secured in the free
exercise of their religion with
out restriction.

Estados Unidos conferme d les
principios de la censtitucion ; y
entretanto seran mantenidos y
protegidos en el goce de su
libertad y propiedad, y ase-
gurades en el libre ejercicio de
su religion sin restriccion al-
a:una.

Article X.
[Stricken out. J
Article XI.
Considering that a great part
of the territories which, by the
present treaty, are to be com
prehended for the future within
the limits of the United States,
is now occupied Ijy savage
tribes, who will hereafter be
under the exclusive control of
tfae governraent ef the United
States, and whose incursions
within the territory of ^lexico
would be prejudicial in tfae ex
treme, it is solemnly agreed that
all such incursions shall be forci
bly restrained by the govern
ment of the United States when
soever this may be necessary ;
aud that when they cannot be
prevented they shall be pun
ished by the said governraent,
and satisfaction fjr the same
shall be exacted — all in the
same wav. aud with equal dili
gence and energv, as if tfae

Articulo X.
[Suprimido.J Articulo XI.
En atencion a que una gran
parte de los territories que por
el presente tratado van d quedar
para lo future dentro de los
liraites de les Estados Unidos,
se faalla actualmente ocupada
por tribas salvages, que ban
de estar en adelante bajo la
exclusiva autoridad del go
bierno de los Estados Unidos,
y cuyas incursiones sobre los
(listritos Mexicanos serian en
extreme perjudiciales ; esta so-
lemnemente convenido que el
mismo gobierno de les Estados
Unidos contendra las indicadas
incursiones por medio de la
fuerza siempre que asi sea ne
cesario ; y cuando no pudiere
prevenirlas, castigard y escar-
mentarii d los invasores, exi-
giendoles ademas la debida re-
paracion : todo del mismo modo,
y cen la misma diligencia y

APPENDIX.

503

same incursions were meditated
or committed within its own
territory, against its own citi
zens. It shall not be lawful, under
any pretext whatever, for any
inhabitant of the United States
to purcliase or acquire any
Mexican, or any foreigner re
siding in Mexico, who may
have been captured by Indians
inhabiting the territory of
either of the two republics,
nor to purchase or acquire
horses, raules, cattle, or prop
erty ef any kind, stolen within
^Mexican territory by such In
dians. And in tfae event of any per
son er persons, captured within
Mexican territory by Indians,
being carried into the territory
ef tfae United States, tfae gov
ernment of tfae latter engages
and binds itself, in the most
soleran manner, so soon as it
shall know of such captives
being within its territory, and
shall be able so to do, threugfa
the faithful exercise of its in
fluence and power, te rescue
them and return them to their
country, or deliver theth to the
agent or representative of the
Mexican government. The
Mexican authorities will, as far
as practicable, give to the gov-

energia con que ebraria, si las
incursiones se hubiesea medi-
tado 6 ejecutado sobre terri
tories suy OS 6 centra sus propios
ciudadanos. A ningun habitante de los
Estados Unidos sera licito, bajo
ningun pretesto, cemprar 6 ad
quirir cautivo alguno, Mexicano
6 extrangero residente en Mexi
co, apresade por los Indies
habitantes en territoriode cual
quiera de las dos reptiblicas, ni
los caballos, mulas, ganados, 6
cualquiera otro genero de cesas
que hayan robado dentro del
territorio Mexicano.

Y en caso de que cualquier
persona 6 personas cautivadas
per los ludios dentro del terri
torio Mexicano scan llevadas al
territoriode los Estados Unidos,
el gobierno de dichos Estados
Unidos se compromete y liga
de la manera mas seleiiine, en
cuanto le sea posible, a resca-
tarlas, y a restituirlas d su pais,
6 entregarlas al agente 6 repre-
sentantedel gobierno Mexicano;
haciende todo esto, tan luego
come sepa que los dichos cau
tivos se hallan dentro de su
territorio, y empleando al efecto
el leal ejercicio de su influencia
y poder. Las autoridades
^Mexicanas dardn a las de los

504

APPENDIX.

ernment of the United States
notice of such captures; and its
agent shall pay the expenses in
curred in the maintenance and
transmission ef the rescued
captives; who, in the mean
time, shall be treated with the
utmost hospitality by the
American authorities at the
place where tfaey may be. But
if the government ef the United
States, before receiving such
notice from Mexico, should ob
tain intelligence, through any
other channel, of the existence
ef Mexican captives within its
territory, it will proceed forth-
witfa to effect tfaeir release and
delivery to the Mexican agent
as above stipulated.
For the purpose of giving to
these stipulations tfae fullest
possible efficacy, tfaereby afford
ing tfae security and redress
demanded by their true spirit
and intent, the government of
the United States will now and
hereafter pass, without un
necessary delay, and always
vigilantly enforce, such laws
as the nature of the subject
may require. And finally, the
sacredness of this obligation
shall never be lost sight ef by
the said government when
providing for the removal ef
the Indians from any portion
of the said territories, er for

Estados Unidos, segun sea
practicable, una noticia de tales
cautivos ; y el agente Mexicano
pagard les gastos eregades en
el mantenimiento y remision de
los que se rescaten, los cuales
entre tanto seran tratades con
la mayor hospitalidad por las
autoridades Americanas del
lugar en que se encuentren.
Mas si el gobierno deles Estados
Unidos, antes de recibir aviso
de Mexico, tuviera noticia por
cualquiera etre conducto de
e.xistir en su territorio cautivos
Mexicanos, procederd desde
luego d verificar su rescate y
entrega al agente Mexicano,
segun queda convenido.
Con el objeto de dar d estas
estipulacienes la mayor fuerza
posible, y afianzar al mismo
tiempo la seguridad y las repara-
ciones que exige el verdadere
espiritu e intencion con que se
han ajustado, el gobierno de
les Estados Unidos dictard sin
intitiles delaciones, afaora y en
lo de adelante, las leyes que
requiera la naturaleza del
asunto, y vigilard siempre sobre
su ejecucion. Finalmente, el
gobierno de les mismos Estad9s
Unidos tendra muy presente la
santidad de esta obligacion
siempre que tenga que desalojar
a los Indies de cualquier punto

APPENDIX. 505
its being settled by citizens of de los indicados territories 6
the United States; but, on the que establecer en el a ciuda-
centrary, special care shall be danos suyos : y cuidard muy
taken uot to place its Indian especialmente de que no se
occupants under tfae necessity ponga d los ludios que habita-
of seeking new horaes, by cem- ban dntes aquel punto, en
mitting those invasions which uecesidad de buscar nuevos
the United States have sol- hogares por medio de las incur-
ernnly obliged themselves to siones sobre los distritos Mexi-
restrain. canos, que el gobierno de los
Estados Unidos se ha compro-
metido solemnemente a re-
primir.
Article XII. Articulo XII.
In consideration of tfae exten- En consideracion a la esten-
sien acquired by the boundaries sion que adquieren les liraites
of the United States, as de- de los Estados Unidos, sesrun
fined in the fifth article ef the quedan descritos en el articulo
present treaty, the governraent quinto del presente tratado,
of the United States engages el gobierno de les mismos
to pay to that of the Mexican Estados Unidos se compromete
republic the sum of fifteen mil- a pagar al de la reptiblica
liens of dollars. Mexicana la suma de quince
millenes de pesos.
Immediately after this treaty Inmediatamente despues que
shall have been duly ratified by este tratado haya side ratificado
tfae government of tfae Mexican per el gobierno de la reptiblica
republic, the sum of three mil- Mexicana, se entregara al mis-
lions of dollars shall be paid to mo gobierno por el de les Esta-
the said government by that of dos Unidos, en la ciudad de
the United States, at the City Mexico, y en moneda de plata
ef Mexico, in the gold or silver ti ore del cuiio Mexicano, la
coin of Mexico. The remaining suma de tres luillones de pesos.
twelve millions of dollars shall Los dece millenes de pesos
be paid at the same place, and restantes se pagaran en Mexico,
in the same coin, in annual en moneda de plata u ore del
instalments ef three millions of cufie Mexicano, en abonos de

506 APPENDIX.
dollars each, together with in- tres millones de pesos cada
terest on the same at the rate ano, con un redito de seis per
of six per centum per annum, ciento anual : este redito comi-
This interest shall begin to enzara a correr para toda la
run upon the whole sum of suma de los dece millones el
twelve raillions frora the day dia de la ratificacion del pre-
of the ratification of the present sente tratado por el gobierno
treaty by the Mexican govern- Mexicano, y con cada abono
ment, aud the first ef the instal- anual de capital se pagard el
ments shall be paid at tfae redito que corresponda d la
expiration of one year, from suma abonada. Los plazos
tfae same day. Together with para los abonos de capital cor-
each annual instalment, as it ren desde el misrao dia que
falls due, the wfaole interest ac- empiezan d causarse los redites.
cruing en such instalment from
the beginning shall also be paid.
Article XIII. Articulo XIII.
The United States engage, Se obliga ademas el gobierno
moreover, to assurae and pay de los Estados Unidos d toniar
to the claimants all tfae amounts sobre si, y satisfucer curapli-
now due thera, and these here- damente d los reclamantes,
after to becorae due, by reason todas las cantidades que hasta
of the claims already liquidated aqui se les deben y cuantas se
anddecided aa'iiinsttheMexican venzan en adelante por razon
republic, under tfae conventions de las reclaraacienes ya liqui-
between tfae two republics dadas y sentenciadas contra la
severally concluded on the reptiblica Me.xicana conferme a
eleventh day of April, eighteen los cenvenios ajustados entre
hundred and thirty-nine, and arabas reptiblicas el once de
on the thirtieth day of January, Abril de mil ochecientos treinta
eighteen hundred and forty- y nueve, y el treinta de Enero
three ; so that the Mexican de rail ochecientos cuarenta y
republic shall be absolutely tres; de raanera que la repii-
exempt, for the future, from all blica ilexicana nada absoluta-
espense whatever on account mente tendra que lasta en le
of the said claims. venidero, por razon de les in
dicados reclames.

APPENDIX. 507
Article XIV. Articulo XIV.
The United States do further- Tambien exoneran los Esta-
luore discharge the Me.xican dos Unidos a la reptiblica Mexi-
republic from all claims of cana de todas las reclamacionps
citizens of tfae United States, de ciudadanos de los Estados
net heretofore decided against Unidos no decididas aim contra
the ^le.xican government, which el gobierno Mexicano, y que
may have arisen previously to puedan haberse originado antes
the date of the signature of this de la fecha de la firma del pre-
treaty; which discharge sfaall sente tratado : esta exoneracion
be final and perpetual, wfaetfaer es definitiva y perpetua, bien
tfae said clairas be rejected or sea que las dichas reclaraacienes
be allowed by tfae beard ef se adinitan, bien sea que se
coramissioners provided fer in desechen por el tribunal de
tfae following article, and wfaat- cemisarios de que habla el
ever shall be tfae total amount articulo siguiente y cualquiera
of those allowed. que pueda ser el monto total
de las que queden admitidas.
Article XV. Articulo XV.
The United States, exon- Los Estados Unidos, exone-
erating ^Mexico from all de- rando d Mexico de toda respon-
mands on account of the clairas sabilidad por las reclaraacienes
of their citizens mentioned in de sus ciudadanos raencionadas
tfae preceding article, and con- en el articulo precedente, y
sidering thera entirely and fer- censiderandolas cempletaraente
ever cancelled, whatever their canceladas para siempre, sea
araount may be, undertake to cual fuere su monto, toman d
make satisfaction for tfae same, su cargo satisfacerlas faasta una
te an amount not exceeding cantidad que no exceda de tres
tfaree and one quarter millions millones doscientos cincuenta
ef dollars. To ascertain tfae mil peso..;. Para fijar el raonto
validity and amount ef those y validez de estas reclamaciones,
claims, a board of commission- se establecerd por el gobierno
ers shall be established by the de los Estados Unidos uu tri-
government ef the United bunal decomisarios, cuyos failes
States, whose awards shall serdn definitives yconcluyentes,
be final and conclusive: Pro- con tal que al decidir sobre la

508 APPENDIX.
vided, That, in deciding upon validez de dichas reclamaciones,
the validity of each claim, the el tribunal se haya guiado y
board shall be guided and gobernado por los principios y
governed by the principles reglas de decision establecidos
and rules ef decision prescribed en los articules primero y quinto
by the first and fifth articles of de la convencion, no ratificada,
the nnratifled convention, con- que se ajusto en la ciudad de
eluded at tfae City of Mexico on Mexico el veinte de Noviembre
the twentieth day of November, de mil ochecientos cuarenta y
one thousand eight hundred tres ; y en ningun caso se dard
and forty-three; and in no fallo en favor de ninguna re-
case shall an award be made in clamacion que ne este compren-
favor of any claim not embraced dida en las reglas y principios
by these principles and rules. indicados.
If, in the opinion ef the said Si en juicio del dicho tribunal
board of commissioners, or of de cemisarios, 6 en el de los
the claimants, any books, re- reclamantes se necesitdren para
cords, or documents in the la justa decision de cualquier
possession er power ef the reclamacion algunos libres,
governraent of the Mexican papeles de archive 6 docu-
republic, sfaall be deemed neces- mentos que posea el gobierno
sary to tfae just decision of any Mexicano, 6 que esten en su
claim, tfae coraraissioners, or the poder; los comisarios, 6 los
claimants through them, shall, reclamantes por conducto de
witfain such period as Congress ellos, los pedirdn per escrito
may designate, make an appli- (dentro del plaze que designe
cation in vvritingforthe same, ad- el Congreso), dirigiendese al
dressed to tfae Mexican minister ministre Mexicano de relaciones
for foreign affairs, to be trans- exteriores. a quien transmitird
mitted by the .tfecretary ef State las peticienes de esta clase el
of the United States ; and tfae Secretario de Estado de los
Mexican government engages, Estados Unidos; y el go
at the earliest possible raoraent bierno Mexicano ,-e coinpro-
after the receipt of such de- mete d entregar d la mayor
mand, to cause any ef the brevedad posible, despues de
books, records, or documents, recibida cada demauda, los
-^0 specified, whicfa shall be in libros, papeles de archive 6
their possession or power (or documentos. asi esnecifii-'iidos.

APPENDIX.

509

authenticated copies or extracts
of the same), to be transmitted
to the said Secretary ef State,
who shall immediately deliver
them over to the said board
of commissioners: Provided,
That no such application shall
be made by, or at the instance
ef, any claimant, until the facts,
whieh it is expected to prove
by such books, records, or docu
ments, shall have been stated
under oath er affirmation.

que posea 6 est^n en su poder,
6 copias 6 extractos autenti-
cos de los mismos, con el objeto
de que sean transmitidos al
Secretario de Estado, quien
los pasard inmediatamente al
expresado tribunal de comi
sarios. Y no se hard peticien
alguna de les enunciados libros,
papeles 6 decumentos, por 6 a
instancia de ningun reclamante,
sin que dntes se haya aseverade
bajo juramento 6 cen afirmacion
solerane la verdad de los hechos
que con ellos se pretende probar.

Article XVI. Articulo XVI.
Each of the contracting par- Cada una de las des repii-
ties reserves to itself the entire blicas se reserva la completa
right to fortify whatever point facultad de fortificar todos los
within its territory it may judge puntos que para su seguridad
proper se to fortify, for its .-^e- estime convenientes en su pro-
curity. pio territorio.

Article XVII.
The treaty of amity, com
merce, and navigation, con
cluded at the City ef Mexico
on the fifth day ef April, a.d.
1831, between the United States
of America and the United
Mexican States, except the ad
ditional article, and except so
far as the stipulations ef the
said treaty may be incompati
ble with any stipulation con
tained in the present treaty, is
hereby revived for the period

Articulo XVII.
El tratado de amistad, co-
mercio y navegacion, cencluide
en la ciudad de Mexico el cinco
de Abril, del ano del Senor 1831,
entre la reptiblica Mexicana y
los Estados Unidos de America,
esceptuandose el articulo adi-
cional y cuanto pueda haber en
sus estipulacienes incompatible
con alguna de las contenidas en
el presente tratado, queda res-
tablecido por el periodo de echo
anos desde el dia del cange de

510

APPENDIX.

of eight years from the day of
the exchange of ratifications of
this treaty, with the same force
and virtue as if incorporated
therein ; it being . understood
that each of the contracting
parties reserves to itself the
right, at any time after the
said period of eight years shall
have expired, to terminate the
sarae by givins one year's no
tice of such intention to the
other party.

las ratificaciones del mismo pre
sente tratado, con igual fuerza
y valor que si estuviese inserto
en el ; debiendo entenderse que
cada una de las partes contra-
tantes se reserva el derecho de
poner termino al dicho tratado de
cemercio y navegacion en cual
quier tiempo luego que haya
expirado el periodo de les echo
alios, comunicando su intencion
a la otra parte con un ano de
anticipacien.

Article XVIII.
All supplies wfaate\er for
troops of tfae United States in
Mexico, arriving at ports in the
occupation ef such troops pre
vious to the final evacuation
thereof, although subsequently
to the restoration ef the custom
houses at such ports, shall be
entirely exempt from duties
and charges of any kind ; the
government of the Uuited States
hereby engaging and pledging
its faith to establish, and vigi
lantly te enforce, all possible
guards for securing the revenue
of Mexico, by preventing tfae
importation, under cover of tfais
stipulation, of any articles otfaer
than such, both in kind and
in quantity, as shall really be
wanted fer the use and con
sumption of tfae forces of tfae
United States during the time

Articulo XVIII.
Ne se exigiran derechos ni
gravamen de ninguna clase a
los articules todos que lleguen
para las tropas de les Estados
Unidos d los puertos Mexicanos
ocupados por elias, dntes de
la evacuacion final de los mis
mos puertos, y despues de la
devolucion a Mexico de las adu
anas situadas en ellos. El go
bierno de los Estados Unidos
se compromete a la vez, y sobre
esto empena su fe, d establecer
y mantener cen vigilanciacuan-
tes guardas sean posi bles para
asegurar las rentas de Mexico,
precaviendo la importacion, a la
sombra de esta estipulacion, de
cualesquiera articules que real-
mente no sean necesarios, 6 que
excedan en cantidad de los que
se necesiten para el use y con-
sumo de las fuerzas de los Es-

APPENDIX. 511
they may remain in Mexico, tados Unidos mientras elias
To this end, it shall be the duty permanezcan en Mexico. A
of all officers and agents of the este efecto, todos les oficiales y
United States to denounce to agentes de les Estados Unidos
the Mexican authorities at the tendrdn obliiracion de denun-
respective ports any attempt at ciar d las autoridades Mexicanas
a fraudulent abuse of this stipu- en los mismos puertos, cualquier
lation which they may know of conato de fraudulento abuse de
or may have reason te suspect, esta estipulacion que pudieren
and to give te such authorities conocer 6 tuvieren motive de
all the aid iu tfaeir power with sospecfaar ; asi ceino de impar-
regard thereto ; and every such tir a las mismas autoridades
attempt, wfaen duly proved and todo el auxilio que pudieren con
established by sentence of a este objeto ; y cualquier conato
competent tribunal, sfaall be de esta clase, que fuere legal-
punished by the confiscation ef mente prebado, y declarado por
the property so attempted te sentencia de tribunal cempe-
be fraudulently introduced. tente, sera castigado cen el
comise de la cosa que se haya
intentado intreducir fraudu-
lentamente.
Article XIX. Articulo XIX.
Witfa respect to all mercfaan- Respecto de los efectos, mer-
dise, effects, and property wfaat- cancias y propiedades iraporta-
soever imported into ports of dos en los puertos Mexicanos
Mexico whilst iu the occupation durante el tiempo que han estado
of the forces of the United ocupados per las fuerzas de los
States, whether by citizens of Estados Unidos, sea por ciuda-
either republic, or hj citizens danos de cualquiera de las dos
or subjects of any neutral na- reptiblicas, sea por ciudadanos
tion, the following rules shall 6 subditos de alguna nacion
be observed : neutral, se observardu las reglas
siguientes :
1. All sucb merchandise, ef- 1. Les dichos efectos, mer-
fects, and property, if imported cancias y propiedades, siempre
previously to tfae restoration ef que se hayan importado dntes
the custom-houses to the Me.xi- de la devolucion de las aduanas

512

APPENDIX.

can authorities, as stipulated
for in the third article of this
treaty, shall be exempt from
confiscation, although the im
portation of the same be pro
hibited by the Mexican tariff.
2. The same perfect exemp
tion shall be enjoyed by all such
merchandise, effects, and prop
erty, imported subsequently to
the restoration of the custom
houses, and previously to the
sixty days fixed in the following
article forthe coming into force
of the Me.xican tariff at such
ports respectively ; the said mer
chandise, effects, and property
being, however, at the time of
tfaeir importation, subject to tfae
payment ef duties, as provided
fer in the said following article.
3. All mercfaandise, effects,
and property described in tfae
two rules foregoing shall, during
their continuance at the place
of importation, and upon their
leaving such place for the in
terior, be exempt from all duty,
tax, or impost ef every kind,
under whatsoever title er de
nomination. Nor shall they be
there subjected to auy charge
whatsoever upon the sale
thereof. 4. All merchandise, effects,
aud property described in the

d las autoridades Mexicanas
conferme a lo estipulado en el
articulo tercero de este tratado,
quedaran libres de la pena de
comiso, aun cuando sean de los
prohibidos en el arancel Mexi
cano. 2. La misma exencion goza-
rdn los efectos, mercancias y
propiedades que lleguen d les
puertos Mexicanos, despues de
la devolucion d Mexico de las
aduanas maritiraas, y dntes de
que expiren los sesenta dias
que van d fijarse en el articulo
siguiente para que empieze a
regir el arancel Mexicano en
los puertos; debiendo al tiempo
de su importacion sujetarse los
tales efectos, mercancias y pro
piedades, en cuanto al pago de
derechos, d lo que en el indicado
siguiente articulo se establece.
3. Los efectos, mercancias y
propiedades designados en las
dos reglas anterieres quedaran
exentes de todo derecho, alca-
bala 6 impuesto, sea bajo el
titulo de internacion, sea bajo
cualquiera otro, mientras per
manezcan en los puntos donde
se hayan importado, y d su
salida para el interior ; y en
los mismos puntos no pedrd
jamas exigirse impuesto alguno
sobre su venta.
4. Los efectos, mercancias y
propiedades designados en las

APPENDIX.

513

first and second rules, which
shall have been removed to any
place in the interior whilst such
place waa in the occupation of
the forces of the United States,
shall, during their continuance
therein, be exerapt from all tax
upon the sale or consumption
thereof, and from every kind of
impost or contribution, under
whatsoever title or denomina
tion. 5. But if any merchandise,
effects, or property described
in the first and second rules
shall be removed to any place
not occupied at the time by the
forces of the United States,
they shall, upon their introduc
tion into such place, or upon
their sale or consumption there,
be subject to the same duties
which, under the Mexican laws,
they would be required to pay
in such cases if they had been
imported in time of peace
through the maritime custom
houses, and had there paid the
duties conformably with the
Mexican tariff.
6. The owners of all mer
chandise, effects, or property
described in the first and second
rules, and existing in any port
of Mexico, shall have the right
to reship the same, exempt from
all tax, impost, or contribution
whatever.

reglas priniera y segunda que
hayan sido internados d cual
quier lugar ocupado per las fuer
zas de los Estados Unidos, que
daran exentos de todo derecho
sobre su venta 6 consume, y de
todo impuesto 6 contribucion,
bajo cualquier titulo 6 denomi
nacion, mientras permanezcan
en el mismo lusar.

5. Mas si algunos efectos,
mercancias 6 propiedades de los
designados en las reglas primera
y segunda setrasladaren dalgun
lugar no ocupado a la sazon por
las fuerzas de les Estados Uni
dos, al introducirse a tal lugar,
6 al venderse 6 consumirse en
el, quedardn sujetos a los mis
mos derechos que bajo las leyes
Mexicanas deberian pagar en
tales cases si se hubieran im
portado en tiempo de paz por
las aduanas maritiraas, y hu-
biesen pagado en elias los
derechos que establece el aran
cel Mexicano.
6. Los duenos de efectos,
mercancias y propiedades de
signados en las reglas primera
y segunda, y existentes en algun
puerto de Mexico, tienen derecho
de re-em barcarlos, sin que pueda
exigirseles ninguna clase de im
puesto, alcabala 6 contribucion.

33

514

APPENDIX.

With respect to the metals,
or other property, exported from
any Mexican port whilst in the
occupation of the forces of the
United States, and previously
to the restoration of tbe custom
house at such port, no person
shall be required by the Mexi
can authorities, whether general
or St&te, to pay any tax, duty,
or contribution upon any such
exportation, or in any manner
to account for the same to the
said authorities.

Respecto de los metales y de
toda otra propiedad exportados
por cualquier puerto Mexicano
durante sa ocupacion por las
fuerzas Americanas, y dntes de
la devolucion de su aduana al
gobierno Mexicano, no se exi-
gird d ninguna persona por las
autoridades de Mexico, ya de-
pendan del gobierno general,
ya de algun estado, que pague
ningun impuesto, alcabala 6
derecho por la indicada expor-
tacion, ni sobre ella pedrd exi-
girsele por las dichas autori
dades cuenta alguna.

Article XX.
Through consideration for
the interests of commerce gen
erally, it is agreed, that if less
tban sixty days should elapse
between the date ef the signa
ture of this treaty and the re
storation of the custom-houses.
conformably with the stipula
tion in the third article, in such
case all merchandise, effects, and
property whatsoever, aiTiving
at the Mexican ports after the
restoration of the said custom
houses, and previously to the
expiration of sixty days after
the day of the signature of
this treaty, shall be admitted
to entry; and no other duties
shall be levied thereon than the
duties established bv the tariff

Articulo XX.
Por consideracion a los in-
tereses del comercia de todas
las naciones, queda convenido
que si pasdren menus de se
senta dias desde la fecha de la
firma de este tratado hasta que
se haga la devolucion de las
aduanas maritimas, segun lo es
tipulado en el articulo tercero ;
todos los efectos, mercancias y
propiedades que lleguen a los
puertos Mexicanos desde el dia
en que se verifique la devolu
cion de las dichas aduanas hasta
que se completen sesenta dias
contados desde la fecha de la
firma del presente tratado, se
admitirdn no pagando otros
derechos que los establecidos
en la tarifa que este vigente

APPENDIX. 515
found in force at such custom- en las expresadas aduanas al
houses at the time ef the restora- tiempo de su devolucion, y se
tion of the sarae. And to all extenderdn d dichos efectos,
such merchandise, effects, and mercancias y propiedades las
property, the rules established mismas reglas establecidas ea
by the preceding article shall el ai-ticulo anterior.
apply. Article XXI. Articulo XXI.
If unhappily any disagree- Si desgraciadamente en el
ment should hereafter arise tiempo future se suscitare alg-un
between the governments of punto de desacuerdo entre los
the two republics, whether with gobiernos de las dos reptiblicas,
respect to the interpretation of bien sea sobre la iuteligencia
any stipulation ia this treaty, de alguna estipulacion de este
or with respect to any other tratado, bien sobre cualquiera
particular concerning the politi- otra materia de las relaciones
cal er commercial relations politicas o ceraereiales de las
of the two nations, tfae said dos naciones, los mismos go-
governments, in the name of biernos, ii nombre d« elias, se
those nations, do promise to cemprometen d procurar de la
each other that they will en- manera mas sincera yempenosa
deaver, in the most sincere and a llanar las diferencias que se
earnest manner, to settle the presenten y conservar el estado
differences so arising, and to de pae y amistad en que ahora
preserve the state of peace and se ponen los dos paises, usando
friendship in which the two al efecto de representaciones
countries are new placing them- mutuas y de negociaciones paci-
selves ; using, for this end, mu- ficas, Y si por «stos medios
tual representations aad pa- no se lograre todavia ponerse
cific negotiations. And if by de acuerdo no por eso se ape-
these means they should not lard a represalia, agresion nt
be enabled teceme te an agree- hostilidad de ningun genero de
ment, a resort sfaall not en this una reptiblicacontra otra, haata
account be had to reprisals, que el gobierno de la que se
aggression, or hostilitv ef any crea agraviada haya consi-
kindjby the one republic against derado maduraniente y en es-
the other, until the government piritu de paz y buena vecindad,

516

APPENDIX.

of that which deems itself ag
grieved shall have maturely
considered, in the spirit of peace
and good neighborship, whether
it would net be better that such
difference should be settled by
the arbitration of commission
ers appointed on each side, or
by that of a friendly nation.
And should such course be pro
posed by either party, it shall
be acceded to by the other, un
less deemed by it altogether
incompatible with the nature
of the difference, or the circum
stances of the case.

si no seria mejor que la diferen-
cia se terminara por un arbitra-
mento de comisarios nombrados
por ambas partes, 6 de una
nacion amiga. Y si tal medio
fuere propuesto por cualquiera
de las dos partes, la otra acce-
dera d el, a ne ser que le juzgue
absolatamente incompatible con
la naturaleza y circunstancias
del caso.

Article XXII.
If (wbich is not to be ex
pected, and which God forbid !)
war should unhappily break out
between the two republics,
tbey do now, with a view to
such calamity, solemnly pledge
themselves to each other, and
to the world, to observe the
following rules : absolutely,
where the nature of the subject
permits, and as closely as pos
sible in all cases where such
absolute observance shall be
impossible: 1. The merchants of either
republic then residing in the
other shall be allowed to re
main twelve raonths (fer those
dwelling in the interior), and

Articulo XXII.
Si (lo que uo es de esperarse,
y Dios no permita) desgraciada
mente se suscitare guerra entre
las dos reptiblicas, estas para el
caso de tal calamidad se com-
prometen ahora solemnemente,
dnte si mismas y iinte el munde,
a observar las reglas siguientes
de una manera absoluta si la
naturaleza del objeto d que se
contraen lo permite; y tan ex-
trictamente como sea dable en
todos los cases en que la abso
luta observancia de elias fuere
imposible :
1. Los comerciantes de cada
una de las dos reptiblicas que a
la sazon residan en territorio
de la otra, podrdn permanecer
dece meses los que residan en

APPENDIX.

517

six months (for those dwelling
at the seaports), to collect their
debts and settle their affairs,
during which periods they shall
enjoy the same protection, and
be on the sarae footing, in all
respects, as the citizens or sub
jects of the most friendly na
tions ; and, at the expiration
thereof, or any time before,
they shall have full liberty to
depart, carrying off all their
effects without molestation or
hinderance — conforming there
in to the same laws which the
citizens or subjects of the most
friendly nations are required to
conform to. Upon the entrance
of the armies of either nation
into the territories ef the other,
women and children, ecclesi
astics, scholars of every facultv,
cultivators of the earth, mer
chants, artisans, manufacturers,
and fishermen, unarmed and
inhabiting unfortified towns,
villages, or places, and in gen
eral all persons whose occupa
tions are for the common sub
sistence and benefit ef mankind,
shall be allowed to continue
their respective employraents
unmolested in their persons.
Nor shall their houses or goods
be burnt or otherwise destroyed,
nor their cattle taken, nor their
fields wasted, by the armed
force into whose power, by the

el interior, y seis meses los que
residan en los puertos, para re-
coger sus deudas y arreglar sus
negocios ; durante estos plazos
desfrutardn la misma preteccion
}' estaran sobre el mismo pie
en todos respectos que los ciu
dadanos 6 siibditos de las na
ciones mas amigas ; y al expirar
el termino, 6 dntes de el, tendrdn
completa libertad para salir
y llevar todos sus efectos sin
molestia 6 embaraze, sujetdn-
dose en este particular a las
mismas leyes d que esten sujetos,
y deban arreglarse los ciudada
nos 6 subditos de las naciones
mas amigas. Cuando los ejer-
eitos de una de las dos naciones
"ntren en territories de la otra,
Jas raujeres y nines, les eclesi-
asticos, los estiidiantes de cual
quier facultad, los labradores,
comerciantes, artesanos, manu-
factureros, y pescadores que
esten desarmados y residan en
ciudades, pueblos 6 lugares no
fortificados, y en general todas
las personas cuya ocupacion
sirva para la comun subsisten-
cia y beneficio del genero hu-
mano, podrdn continuar en sus
ejereicios, sin que sus personas
sean molestadas. No serdn in-
cendiadas sus casas 6 bienes,
6 destruidos de otra manera ;
ni serdn tornados sus ganados,
ni devastados sus carapos, por

518 APPENDIX.
events of war, they may hap- la fuerza armada encuyo poder
pen to fall ; but if the necessity puedan venir d caer por les
arise to take anything from aconteeimientos de la guerra ;
them for the use of such armed pere si hubiere necesidad de
force, the same shall be paid tomarles alguna cosa para el
for at an equitable price. All use de la misma fuerza armada,
churches, hospitals, schools, se les pagard lo tornado d un
colleges, libraries, and olher precio juste. Todas las iglesias,
establishments for charitable faespitales, escuelas, colegios,
and beneficent purposes, shall librerias, y deraas establecirai-
be respected, and all persons entes de caridad y benelicencia
connected with the sarae pro- serdn respetados; y todas las
tected in the discharge of tfaeir personas que dependan de las
duties and the pursuit of their misraas serdn protegidas en el
vocations. deserapeiio de sus deberes y en
la continuacion de sus prefesi-
ones.
2. In order that the fate of 2. Para aliviar la suerte de
prisoners of war raay be alle- los prisioneros de guerra, se evi-
viated, all such practices as tardn cuidadosaraente las pra-
tbose ef sending thera inte ticas de enviarlos a distritos
distant, inclement, er unwhole- distantes, inclementes 6 mal-
sorae districts, or crowding sanos, 6 de aglonierarles en
them into close and noxious lugares estrechos y enfermizos.
places, sfaall be studiously No se confinardn en calaboses,
avoided. They shall not be prisiones ni pontones ; no se les
confined in dungeons, prison- aherrejara ni se les atard, nr
ships, er prisons; nor be put se les irapedird de ningun otro
in irons, or bound, or otfaerwise mode el uso de sus niiembros.
restrained in the use of their Los oficiales que dardn en
lirabs. The officers shall enjoy libertad bajo su palabra de
liberty on their paroles witfain honor, dentro de distritos con-
convenient districts, and have venientesy tendrdn alojamientos
comfortable quarters; and the comedos; y los soldados rases
coramon soldiers shall be dis- secolocaran en acantonamientes
posed in cantonments, open bastante despejades y extensos
and extensive enough for air para la ventilacion y el ejercicio,
and exercise, and lodged in y se alojardn en cuarteles tan

APPENDIX. 519
barracks as roomy and good amplies y comedos como los
as are provided by the party que use para sus propias tropas
in whose power they are for la parte que los tenga en su
its own troops. But if any poder. Pero si algun oficial
officer shall break his parole by faltare d su palabra, saliendo
leaving the district so assigned del distritoqueselehasenalado,
him, or any ether prisoner shall 6 algun otro prisionero se fu-
escape from the limits of his gare de les limites de su acan-
cantonment, after they shall tonamiento despues que estos
have been designated to him, se les hayan fijado, tal oficial 6
such individual, officer, or other prisionero perdera el beneficio
prisoner shall forfeit so much del presente articulo por lo que
of the benefit of this article as mera d su libertad bajo su pa-
provides for his liberty on pa- labra 6 en acantonamiento. Y
role er in cantonment. And if si algun oficial faltando asi a su
any officer so breaking his pa- palabra, 6 algun soldado raso
role, or any comraon soldier so saliendo de los limites que se
escaping from the limits as- le han asignado, fuere encon-
signed him, shall afterwards be trade despues con las armas en
found in arms, previously te his la mano antes de ser debida-
being regularly exchanged, the raente cangeado, tal persona en
person so offending shall be esta actitud ofensiva sera tra-
dealt with according to the tada conferme a las leyes
established laws of war. The coraunes de la guerra. A les
officers shall be daily furnished oficiales seproveeradiariamente
by the party in whose power por la parte en cuyo poder
they are with as many rations, esten, de tantas raciones com
and of the same articles, as are puestas de los mismos articules
allowed, either in kind er l)y como las que gozan en espeeie
commutation, te officers ef equal 6 en equivalente los oficiales de
rank in its own army ; and all la misraa graduacion en su pro-
others shall be daily furnished pio ejercito ; a todos los demas
with such ration as is allowed prisioneros se proveerd diaria-
to a common soldier in its own mente de una racion semejante
service — the value of all which a la que se ministra al soldado
supplies shall, at the close of rase en su propio servicio ; el
the war, or at periods to be valor de todas estas suministra-
agreed upon between the re- clones se pagard per la otra

520

APPENDIX.

spective commanders, be paid
by the other party, on a mutual
adjustment of accounts for sub
sistence of prisoners ; and such
accounts shall not be mingled
with er set off against any
others, nor the balance due on
them be withheld, as a compen
sation er reprisal for any cause
whatever, real or pretended.
Each party shall be allowed to
keep a commissary of prisoners,
appointed by itself, with every
cantonment of prisoners in
possession of the other ; which
commissary shall see the prison
ers as often as he pleases; shall
be allowed to receive, exempt
from all duties or taxes, and te
distribute, whatever comforts
may be sent to them by their
friends; and shall be free to
transmit his reports in open
letters to the party by whom
he is employed.

And it is declared that neither
the pretence that war dissolves
all treaties, ner any other what
ever, shall be considered as an
nulling or suspending the sol
emn covenant contained in this
article. On the contrary, the
state of war is precisely that
for which it is provided, and
during which its stipulations

parte al concluirse la guerra, 6
en los periodos que se cenven-
gan entre sus respectivos co
mandantes, precediendo una
mutua liquidacion de las cuentas
que se lieven del mantenimiento
de prisioneros; y tales cuentas
no se mezclarda ni compensaran
con otras ; ni el saldo que
resulte de elias, se rehusara
bajo pretesto de cempensacion 6
represalia per cualquiera causa,
real 6 figurada. Cada una de
las partes pedrd mantener un
comisario de prisioneros nom
brado por ella misma en cada
acantonamiento de los prisio
neros que esten en poder de
la otra parte; este comisario
visitard a los prisioneros siem
pre que quiera; tendrd facultad
de recibir, libres de todo dere
cho 6 impuesto, y de distribuir
todos les auxilies que pueden
enviarles sus amigos, y pedrd
libremente transmitir sus partes
en cartas abiertas d la autoridad
por la cual estd empleado.
Y se declard que ni el pre
testo de que la guerra destruye
los tratades, ni otro alguno, sea
el que fuere, se considerara que
anula 6 suspende el pacto se-
lemnecontenidoeneste articulo.
Por el contrario, el estado de
guerra es cabalmente el que se
ha tenido presente al ajustarlo,
y durante el cual sus estipula-

APPENDIX.

521

are to be as sacredly observed clones se han de observar tan
as the most acknowledged obli- santamente como las ebliga-
gations under the law ef nature clones mas recenocidas de la
or nations. ley natural 6 de gentes.

Article XXIII.
This treaty shall be ratifled
by the President of the United
States of Araerica, by and with
the advice and consent ef the
Senate thereof; and by the
President of the Mexican re
public, with the previous ap
probation of its General Con
gress ; and the ratifications shall
be exchanged in the City of
Washington, or at the seat of
government of Mexico, in four
months from the date ef the
signature hereof, or sooner if
practicable. In faith whereof, we, the re
spective plenipotentiaries, have
signed tfais treaty ef peace,
friendship, limits, and settle
raent; and have hereunto af
fixed eur seals respectively.
Done in quintuplicate, at the
City of Guadalupe Hidalgo, on
tfae second day of February, in
the year of our Lord ene thou
sand eight hundred and forty-
eight. N. P. Trist,
Luis G. Cuevas,
Bernardo Couto,
Mif*L. Atristain.

Articulo XXIII.
Este tratado sera ratificado
por el Presidente de la repu
blica Mexicana, previa la apro-
bacion de su Congreso Ge
neral ; y por el Presidente de
los Estados Unidos de Araerica,
con el conseje y consentimiento
del Senade ; y las ratificaciones
se cangeardn en la ciudad de
Washington, 6 donde estuviere
el gobierno Mexicano, a los
cuatro meses de la fecha de la
firma del mismo tratado, 6 antes
si fuere posible.
En f^ de lo cual, nosotros
los respectivos plenipotenciarios
hemes firmado y sellado per
quintuplicado este tratado de
paz, amistad, limites y arreglo
definitive, en la ciudad de
Guadalupe Hidalgo, el dia dos
de Febrero del ano de nuestro
Seiior mil ochecientos cuarenta
y echo.

[L. S.j

Bernardo Couto,

[L.

S.J

[L. S.]

.^IiGL. Atristain,

[L.

s]

[L. S.J

Luis G. Cuevas,

[L.

s.]

[L. 8.J

N. P. Trist.

[L.

s.]

THE

END.

YALE UNIVERSITY

a39002 002221 100b

^^£1

V-

L ¦ .* ^ * ¦" ¦* _!!¦ -— Jul"'
¦tL .-'.J-- ¦ = >-! -.*,.'»¦ ,¦.; f ' '.¦