Part 59

_Resaca de la Palma._--At two o'clock, on the following day, the American army moved from the field of victory, at Palo Alto, towards Fort Brown. Towards evening, what was their surprise when, on approaching a ravine, called Resaca de la Palma, or the Dry River of Palma, they discovered the Mexican army occupying this exceedingly well-selected spot, and drawn up in battle array. A vigorous action immediately ensued. The Mexican artillery became engaged with Ridgeley's battery, as the latter moved up the ravine. Generals La Vega and Requena superintended the former, and the effect of the firing soon began to be severely felt along the American lines. To dislodge them, became indispensable to the safety of the Americans. The execution of this duty was assigned to Captain May, whose celebrated charge now took place. "I will do it," said May; and, turning to his troops, he rose in his stirrups, pointed to the guns before them, now pouring forth their terrific explosions, and exclaimed, "Remember your regiment! men, follow!" He struck his charger, and bounded on before them, while a deafening cheer answered his call; and immediately the whole were dashing towards the cannons' mouths. May outstripped them--fortunately, wonderfully did he escape, and wonderful was it that so many of his squadron escaped, exposed, as they were, to a fire which swept fearfully along the very line they were pursuing. Some, indeed, there met an untimely fate--seven men, among whom were the brave and noble-hearted Inge and Sacket. Terrific as was the scene, May and his followers pressed on. As they approached the battery, at a single bound, May's horse cleared it. The horses of a few others were equal to the leap, and their impetus carried them beyond the guns. Wheeling again, they drove the gunners off, and Captain Graham, and Lieutenants Pleasantson and Winship, with others, coming up, were masters of the battery. General La Vega was made prisoner. The American infantry now charged the Mexican line; for a time, the latter fought desperately, and sustained themselves with stubborn bravery; but, at length, yielding to necessity, they precipitately fled from the field. In this battle, only the outlines of which we give, the Americans captured eight pieces of artillery, several standards, large military stores, and several hundred prisoners. The loss of the Americans, in both these actions, was three officers and forty men killed. Besides the officers already named, was Lieutenant Cochrane. Thirteen officers and one hundred men were wounded. The Mexican loss was one hundred and fifty-four officers and men killed; two hundred and five wounded; missing, one hundred and fifty-six. General Taylor, following the battle, continued his march to Fort Brown; and, on the 18th, took possession of Matamoras, the Mexican settlement opposite.

_Fall of Monterey._--Following the occupation of Matamoras, preparations were made, by order of the government, for an advance into the interior of Mexico. During these preparations, which occupied the space of three months, several Mexican villages, Reinosa, Wier, Revilla, and Camargo, were taken possession of. This last place, situated about one hundred and eighty miles above the mouth of the Rio Grande, was selected as a _dépôt_ of supplies; and to this point, the several divisions of General Taylor's army were at length concentrated. The first of these divisions, two thousand and eighty, was commanded by General Twiggs; the second, one thousand seven hundred and eighty, by General Worth; the third, two thousand eight hundred and ten, by General Butler.

On the 19th of September, these several divisions reached a place called Walnut Springs, distant from Monterey three miles. The capture of this city was now the immediate object in view. It was a strongly-fortified place, with a competent garrison under command of General Ampudia. On the evening of the 19th, a reconnoisance of the fortifications was made; and, on the following day, the attack was commenced by the division of General Worth. On the 21st, the attack was renewed, and two fortified heights were taken; the guns of one of which was turned upon the bishop's palace, which had been rendered exceedingly strong. On the 22d, other heights, above the bishop's palace, were carried, and, soon after, the palace itself. As these fortifications, in a measure, commanded the city, the enemy, on the night of the 22d, evacuated all his defences in the lower part. On the morning of the 23d, the streets of the upper part of the city became the scene of action. Here the battle raged. All that day the firing was kept up; the American troops proceeded from house to house--from square to square--the Mexicans resisting them at every step. The carnage was frightful.

Early on the 24th, Ampudia prepared to evacuate the town; a suspension of hostilities was, therefore, arranged till twelve o'clock; during which, at the request of Ampudia, General Taylor had an interview with him, which resulted in a capitulation; placing the town and materials of war, with certain exceptions, in the possession of the American general.

The city was found to be of great strength. There were mounted forty-two pieces of cannon. The Mexican force consisted of seven thousand troops of the line and two or three thousand irregulars. The American force was four hundred and twenty-five officers, and six thousand two hundred and twenty men. The artillery was one ten-inch mortar, two twenty-four pound howitzers, and four light field batteries, of four guns each.

The American loss was twelve officers and one hundred and eight men killed; thirty-one officers and three hundred and thirty-seven men wounded. The loss of the Mexicans was still more considerable. An armistice was allowed by General Taylor, of eight weeks, subject to be revoked by either government. On receiving intelligence of the armistice and its conditions, the American government, it is said, directed its termination. The Mexican army was permitted to retire, and marched out with the honors of war.

_Victory at Buena Vista._--For some months following the occupation of Monterey, General Taylor was variously employed; during which time, with what he had already achieved, the conquest of the provinces of New Mexico, New Leon, Coahuila, and Tamaulipas, in the Mexican republic, had been effected.

As an advance still farther into the interior of Mexico was ordered by the government, General Worth, with his division, had some time previously been sent forward to take the pass at Saltillo, fifty miles west of Monterey. To this point, leaving a force of one thousand five hundred men to garrison Monterey, General Taylor directed his course on the 31st of January, and, on the 2d of February, reached Saltillo. His effective force at this time was about five thousand. On the 4th of February, he advanced upon Agua Nueva, a strong position on the road leading from Saltillo to San Luis; at which place intelligence was received, on the 21st, that Santa Anna, the Mexican general-in-chief, with an army exceeding twenty thousand men, was on the advance. Finding his present position, at Agua Nueva, less favorable for a conflict with a force so overwhelming, he fell back upon Buena Vista, a strong mountain-pass, eleven miles nearer Saltillo. Of the five thousand troops, of which his army was composed, less than five hundred were regulars; while, on the other hand, the army of Santa Anna consisted of the flower of the Mexican nation. The odds were fearful, being more than four to one.

At length, on the 22d of February, the Mexican army bore down upon General Taylor, whose troops, now formed in order of battle, calmly awaited the approach of the Mexican host. Halting his army at some little distance, Santa Anna sent a summons to General Taylor to surrender; to which the hero of Palo Alto very politely, but laconically replied, "I beg leave to say, that I decline acceding to your request."

Still, the enemy forbore, for a time, an attack, evidently waiting the arrival of his rear columns. But on the morning of the 23d, the conflict between the armies began. A full description of the battle would occupy pages. Few engagements were ever entered upon when the forces were so unequal in numbers. That victory should declare for Taylor and his five thousand troops, is the wonder and admiration of all military men. But while all due praise is accorded to the infantry and the few cavalry engaged, the most effectual work was accomplished by the artillery. The American artillery cannot probably be excelled. At one moment--a most critical and anxious moment it was--when it seemed nearly impossible but that the Mexican army should overpower--if by no other means, by the force of numbers--Captain Bragg was ordered to take a particular position with his battery, the Mexican line being but a few yards from the muzzle of his pieces. The first discharge of the cannister caused the enemy--probably advancing as they were--to pause and hesitate; while a second and third discharge drove them back in disorder; and, in the words of General Taylor, "saved the day."

That night--it was a night intensely cold--the American soldiers were compelled to bivouac without fires, expecting that the morning would renew the conflict. During the night, the wounded were removed to Saltillo. The following day, prisoners were exchanged, the dead were collected and buried; and it may be added, that the Mexican wounded, left upon the field by Santa Anna, were sent to Saltillo, and comfortably provided for.

The loss of the Americans during the action was, killed, two hundred and sixty-seven; wounded, four hundred and fifty-six; missing, twenty-three. The Mexican loss in killed and wounded was supposed to amount to two thousand--five hundred of whom were left upon the field of battle. "Our loss," says General Taylor in his official dispatch, "has been especially severe in officers, twenty-eight having been killed upon the field. We have to lament the death of Captain George Lincoln, assistant adjutant-general, serving in the staff of General Wool--a young officer of high bearing and approved gallantry, who fell early in action. No loss falls more heavily upon the army in the field than that of Colonels Hardin and McKee, and Lieutenant-colonel Clay. Possessing in a remarkable degree the confidence of their commands, and the last two having enjoyed the advantage of a military education, I had looked particularly to them for support, in case we met the enemy. I need not say, that their zeal in engaging the enemy, and the cool and steadfast courage with which they maintained their positions during the day, fully realized my hopes, and caused me to feel yet more sensibly their untimely loss."

The annals of American warfare probably do not furnish a more remarkable victory than this of Buena Vista, whether we consider the inequality of the forces engaged--the character of the forces, being nearly all volunteers on the American side, and regular troops on the other--or the decisive nature of the victory itself. Most remarkable were the coolness and gallantry displayed; but it must be remembered that that coolness and gallantry were, in no slight degree, the result of those qualities which so eminently distinguished the commanding general himself.

_Capture of Vera Cruz._--Events connected with the prosecution of the war, will require us in the next place to speak of transactions in another quarter of that agitated and long-distracted country.

Some two hundred miles south-easterly of the capital, on the Gulf of Mexico, is situated the city of Vera Cruz--a place of considerable mercantile importance, and nearly opposite to which is a small island, on which stands the castle of San Juan d'Ulloa, a fortress long celebrated for its impregnable strength.

The reduction of this fortress, and the capture of this most important maritime town belonging to Mexico, had for some time engaged the attention of the American government. For a time, the well-known strength of the fortress, and the danger arising from the vomito, of garrisoning that and the city, in case of their reduction, strongly operated against the enterprise. But their importance to the final and more speedy termination of the war, at length decided the president and his advisers to hazard the expedition. It being impracticable to withdraw General Taylor from the theatre of his signal victories, the enterprise was intrusted to the long-tried and accomplished General Scott.

In obedience to his orders, General Scott left Washington on the 24th of November, on this great and doubtful enterprise. On the 1st of January, he reached the Rio Grande. The troops destined for this expedition, among whom was a considerable portion of the army under General Taylor, were directed to rendezvous at Lesbos, an island about one hundred and twenty-five miles north-west of Vera Cruz. From this point, the army was transported to the west of the island of Sacrificios. The landing of the troops having been effected without direct opposition, although the guns and castles, of the city kept up a constant firing with round shot and thirteen-inch shells, the several divisions of the army took their respective positions for the purpose of investment and siege.

Soon after the commencement of the siege, a "norther" prevailed, which rendered it impossible to land heavy ordnance. On the 17th, a pause occurred in the storm, and ten mortars, four twenty-four-pound guns, and some howitzers were landed. On the night of the 18th, the trenches were opened, and--engineers, with sappers and miners, leading the way--the army gradually closed in nearer the city.

On the 22d of March--seven of the ten-inch mortars being in battery, and other works in progress--General Scott summoned the governor of Vera Cruz to surrender the city. This he refused. On the return of the flag, the mortar-battery, at a distance of eight hundred yards from the city, opened its fire, and continued to fire during the day and night.

On the 24th, the batteries were rëinforced with twenty-four pounders and Paixhan guns. On the 25th, all the batteries were in "awful activity." Terrible was the scene! The darkness of the night was illuminated with blazing shells circling through the air. The roar of artillery, and the heavy fall of descending shot, were heard throughout the streets of the besieged city. The roofs of buildings were on fire. The domes of churches reverberated with fearful explosions. The sea was reddened with the broadsides of ships. The castle of San Juan returned from its heavy batteries the fire, the light, the smoke, the noise of battle. Such was the sublime and awfully-terrible scene, as beheld from the trenches of the army, from the 22d to the 25th of March.

Early on the morning of the 26th, General Landers, on whom the command had been devolved by General Morales, made overtures of surrender. Late on the night of the 27th, the articles of capitulation were signed and exchanged.

On the 29th, the official dispatch of General Scott announced that the flag of the United States floated over the walls of Vera Cruz and the castle of San Juan d'Ulloa. The regular siege of the city had continued from the day of _investment_, the 12th of March, to the day the articles of capitulation were signed, the 27th; making a period of _fifteen days_, in which active, continuous, vigorous operations were carried on. During this time, our army had thrown three thousand ten-inch shells, two hundred howitzer shells, one thousand Paixhan shot, and two thousand five hundred round shot, weighing, in the whole, about _half a million pounds_! Most effective and most terrible was the disaster and destruction they caused within the walls of the city, whose ruins and whose mourning attested both the energy and the sadness of war.

The surrender of the city almost necessarily led to the surrender of the castle. By the terms of capitulation, five thousand prisoners were surrendered on parole, and nearly five hundred pieces of fine artillery were taken. The number of killed and wounded, on the American side, was comparatively small. The principal officers killed were Captains Alburtis and Vinton. The destruction of life fell heavily upon the Mexicans, and especially upon the citizens of Vera Cruz, many of whose females and children found their death from shells falling and bursting in the city. This, however painful it was, was unavoidable, inasmuch as many, who had ample time to leave the city before the bombardment commenced, failed to take advantage of that opportunity.

The fall of Vera Cruz and its neighboring fortress was the result of cool and determined bravery, but more, perhaps, of scientific skill and wise calculation. The castle had long been considered impregnable, and, by many, its reduction was deemed little short of presumption.

_Cerro Gordo._--The victories of Palo Alto, Monterey, and Buena Vista, under General Taylor, followed, as they were, by the capture of Vera Cruz, and the fall of that Mexican Gibraltar, San Juan d'Ulloa, although terribly disastrous to the Mexicans, had not served to conquer them. Nothing short of the loss of their capital, it was apparent, could subdue them; and the occupation of that now became the one great and controlling object of the commander-in-chief. Preparations were accordingly made to march upon the city of Mexico, by the way of Jalapa, Perote, and Puebla, a distance of about three hundred miles.

On the 12th of April, the American army had reached the neighborhood of Cerro Gordo, a mountain-pass, sixty miles from Vera Cruz. Here Santa Anna had collected about fifteen thousand men, and had made every possible preparation to resist the progress of the Americans. He had fortified several eminences, formidable by nature, but now still more formidable by the batteries, which he had planted.

Perceiving that a front attack of these works would be hazardous in the extreme, General Scott directed a road to be opened around Cerro Gordo, which would enable the army to ascend the mountain, and gain the rear of the Mexican works. This was a masterly movement--the work of indescribable toil; but when accomplished, it was apparent to the Mexicans that their fate was sealed. The consequence was, that one position after another was obliged to yield, until, at length, but one remained--the fortress of Cerro Gordo, the highest and most formidable. The storming of this was intrusted to Colonel Harney, supported from various points by Twiggs, Shields, and Pillow. It was a desperate enterprise, but at length it was accomplished. Sergeant Henry had the honor of hauling down the national standard of Mexico. Of the gallant conduct of Colonel Harney, General Scott was an immediate witness. When all was effected, approaching the colonel, between whom and himself there had been some coolness, he thus addressed him: "Colonel Harney, I cannot adequately express my admiration of your gallant achievement, but, at the proper time, I shall take great pleasure in thanking you in proper terms."

The result of the victory was, three thousand prisoners; forty-three pieces of brass artillery, manufactured at Seville; five thousand stands of arms; and the five Generals Penson, Jarrero, La Vega, Noriega, and Obando.

Meanwhile, the Mexican commander-in-chief addressed himself to his own personal safety. In company with Generals Canalizo and Almonte, and some six thousand men, he made his escape. But he was so hotly pursued, that he was obliged to leave his carriage, and mount a mule which was attached to it. Nor was there time to unharness the animal, but he was detached by summarily cutting the harness. The carriage was of course abandoned; and in it, or near it, was found Santa Anna's cork leg, which, in the haste of the moment, had fallen off; and to restore which there was now no time. And still more, his dinner, which had been prepared, was discovered in his carriage uneaten; and which, after the pursuit was ended, served as a grateful repast to the several hungry and weary American officers.

_Progress of the Army._--Baffled in his attempt to arrest the march of the American army, Santa Anna had no other course but to retreat, as we have related. The way was now open to the American troops, who advanced upon Perote; which having garrisoned, they proceeded to the ancient city of Puebla, in the Spanish tongue _Puebla de los Angelos_, the city of angels. Here, for several weeks, the army rested, waiting for rëinforcements, the troops being deemed entirely inadequate for so formidable an undertaking as that of marching on the capital. At length, the anticipated forces having arrived, preparations were made to advance. On the 6th of August, 1847, the army consisted as follows:

Scott's force at Puebla, 7,000 Cadwallader's brigade, 1,400 Pillow's brigade, 1,800 Pierce's corps brigade, 2,409 Garrison at Puebla, under Colonel Childs, 1,400 ------ Total arrived at Puebla, 14,009 Deduct from this the garrison at Puebla, including sick, 3,261 ------ Total marched from Puebla, 10,748

This army was arranged in four divisions, with a cavalry brigade. This brigade was under the command of Colonel Harney. General Worth commanded the first division; General Twiggs the second; General Pillow the third; and General Quitman the fourth.

At length, on the 7th of August, the second division, under General Twiggs, commenced its march, followed on the 8th, 9th, and 10th, by the other divisions. No opposing foe impeded their progress. On the 17th, the army was concentrated at San Augustine, about ten miles south of Mexico, on the Acapulco road leading to the city. From this point, the Americans were destined to meet with the most formidable resistance. Every possible preparation had been made by Santa Anna to prevent their access to and occupation of the city. On the 20th, the drama opened, and, on that day, several distinct and severe engagements occurred between the Mexicans and the several divisions of the American army, the principal of which were the battles of _Contreras_ and _Churubusco_. In these engagements, thirty-two thousand Mexicans were engaged, and were defeated, and even routed. Three thousand prisoners were made, including eight generals and two hundred and five other officers. Four thousand, of all ranks, were killed and wounded; thirty-seven field-pieces captured, besides large stores of ammunition. An easy access to the city now presented itself, and, but for a single circumstance, the victorious Americans would doubtless have occupied it that same evening, or early on the ensuing morning.