THE WAR WITH MEXICO.
We now come to a long break of thirty years, during which the United
States were at peace with all the nations of the earth. But in this
period the navy was by no means idle. There was first a long and arduous
campaign against the pirates of the West Indies, which ended at last in
sweeping from the seas the gangs of cut-throats that had so long
infested the Spanish Main. When this important work had been
successfully accomplished, the navy was actively occupied in putting
down the slave trade on the coast of Africa, and in protecting American
commerce from the depredations of savage tribes in distant countries,
above all on the coasts and islands of the Pacific and the Indian
Oceans. The navy too was busy with its peaceful occupations; for as the
co-adjutor of the nation's commerce it is a part of its duty to survey
and explore the waters upon coasts hitherto unknown, to map out the
channels, and to warn against the rocks and shoals and other dangers to
the ships that will some day have to navigate these remote seas. It was
in this period that the great exploring expedition was sent out to the
Pacific under Lieutenant Wilkes, whose researches gave us our first
accurate knowledge of the waters of this region, and form a lasting
monument to the memory of the commander, and to the zeal and energy and
skill of the navy which planned and carried out the enterprise.
But the long period of peace was now to be rudely interrupted, and the
complications that followed the annexation of Texas at last brought on
hostilities with Mexico. The possibility of this war had been long
foreseen by the Government, and the navy was found prepared for it. For
several years a squadron had been maintained on the western coast of
America, from Valparaiso to the Columbia River; and at the declaration
of war, May 12, 1846, a considerable force was assembled in the northern
cruising-ground. A still stronger force, composing the Home Squadron,
was concentrated in the Gulf. The two coasts continued during the war to
be two distinct bases of operation; but as the Mexicans had no naval
force, the operations consisted mainly in blockade, and in attacks upon
the cities along the coast.
Of the officers who held successively the chief command on the western
coast, Commodore Stockton had the largest share of the work. Commodore
Sloat, who was in command of the station when the war broke out, was
there only long enough to make a beginning. This he did promptly and
well. He had with him the frigate "Savannah" as flagship; the sloops
"Portsmouth," "Warren," "Levant," and "Cyane;" the schooner "Shark;" and
the storeship "Erie." These were all sailing-ships. At this time the
coast south of the forty-second parallel of latitude, including the
whole of California, belonged to Mexico, that parallel having been the
boundary of the United States as fixed by the treaty of cession of
Louisiana in 1803. North of this point was the unsettled and
hardly-organized territory of Oregon. The squadron was therefore without
a base of supplies in the Pacific, and as it took months to communicate
with Washington, its commander was obliged to act largely on his own
responsibility. The enemy's coast, including the peninsula of lower
California, extended over four thousand miles. To cover such a range of
coast even with steamers would require uncommon activity; and with a
force of half a dozen sailing-vessels the task was much more difficult.
Commodore Sloat's instructions of the 24th of June, 1845, which were
written a year before the war broke out, contained these words:--
"It is the earnest desire of the President to pursue the policy
of peace; and he is anxious that you and every part of your
squadron should be assiduously careful to avoid any act of
aggression. Should Mexico, however, be resolutely bent on
hostilities, you will be mindful to protect the persons and
interests of citizens of the United States near your station;
and should you ascertain beyond a doubt that the Mexican
Government has declared war against us, you will at once employ
the forces under your command to the best advantage."
On the 7th of June, 1846, while at Mazatlan, Commodore Sloat received
satisfactory information that the Mexican troops had crossed the Rio
Grande and had attacked the army of General Taylor in Texas. At the same
time he learned that our squadron in the Gulf had put some of the
Mexican ports under blockade. Of course he had not yet heard of the
declaration of war passed on the 12th of May; but he knew that
according to the policy of the administration this meant war, and that
under his instructions he was to begin offensive operations. Leaving the
"Warren" at Mazatlan, he sailed at once in the "Savannah" for Monterey.
The commodore showed great foresight in striking his first blow in
California. The country was mostly unexplored, and only sparsely
inhabited, many of the settlers having come from the United States. Its
resources were not fully known, but they were supposed to be
considerable, though nothing was looked for like the Eldorado that was
afterward discovered. It embraced an immense territory, comprising,
besides the State of California as its boundaries are fixed to-day,
Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, and part of Colorado. Its position
pointed it out as the part of Mexico which could most advantageously be
transferred in case of an annexation of territory at the end of the war.
Annexation would be made much easier by an early conquest, and indeed a
conquest was in some degree necessary to make the ground of cession. It
was a vulnerable point, because it was garrisoned only by a small force
of Mexican troops, and it lay too far from the scene of active
hostilities to be recovered from the Americans if they once got full
possession.
The "Savannah" arrived at Monterey on the 2d of July, and found there
the "Cyane" and the "Levant." Commodore Sloat hastened to demand a
surrender from the Mexicans, and upon their refusal, two hundred and
fifty seamen and marines were landed, who took possession of the town
without resistance. Soon after a proclamation was published declaring
that California had become a part of the United States. A company of
volunteer dragoons was organized among the Americans on shore, and
preparations were made to seize the neighboring towns.
While this was going on at Monterey, Commander Montgomery in the
"Portsmouth," which was at Yerba Buena, or San Francisco, as it is now
called, having received an order from the commodore, took like measures
to assert the authority of the United States. He also organized his
military companies, and assumed control of all the posts in the
neighborhood,--Sonoma, Sutter's Fort, and the Presidio. Not far off, in
the interior, Frémont, a young captain of topographical engineers, who
was at work upon his duties of surveying, had raised the American flag,
and at various points he too had taken a nominal possession. On the 19th
of July he joined Commodore Sloat at Monterey.
With these vigorous preliminary measures the commodore's command came to
an end. He had been for some time past in bad health, and when, late in
July, the "Congress" arrived, under Commodore Stockton, a younger man
and a most brilliant officer, Commodore Sloat turned over the command to
him. The campaign had been opened, and it remained for the new
commander-in-chief to follow up the blows that had been struck.
At this time the Californian Legislature was in session at Los Angeles,
the capital of the province, which was defended by a body of Mexican
troops under General Castro. Commodore Stockton at once determined to
strike a decisive blow at the city. As Los Angeles was not on the
sea-coast, and as it was defended by a trained army, it required an
extraordinary degree of boldness and enterprise on the part of the naval
commander to resolve to attack it without the aid of regular soldiers.
But the result only shows how much may be done in case of necessity by
blue-jackets on shore under a capable commander. The commodore organized
the volunteer dragoons as a battalion of mounted riflemen, and appointed
Captain Frémont major and Lieutenant Gillespie captain. On the day after
he took command the battalion embarked on board the "Cyane," and next
day it sailed for San Diego, from which place it was to march toward the
capital. A few days later Commodore Stockton sailed in the "Congress" to
San Pedro, a point some distance to the northward of San Diego, and only
thirty miles from Los Angeles. On his way down he landed a garrison at
Santa Barbara, an intermediate port. Arriving at San Pedro he organized
a little army--a naval brigade, as we should call it now--of three
hundred and fifty seamen and marines, drilling them daily on shore by a
rough manual which he devised hastily for the purpose. For artillery he
had some 6-pounders and a 32-pounder carronade.
After a few days' delay, to exercise his men and to give Major Frémont
time to begin his advance, the commodore set out for Los Angeles. His
force was only one third of that of the enemy, who were strongly
intrenched in a fortified camp in the valley of the river Mesa. The road
from San Pedro contained many narrow defiles, which the Mexicans might
easily have defended; but, strange to say, they neglected this
advantage. On his way Stockton was twice called upon to surrender by
envoys from General Castro; but he talked to them so boldly that he
succeeded in deceiving them about the actual size of his force. Soon
they became alarmed at the invasion, and when the Americans arrived at
Castro's camp, it was found that the general had fled, and that his
followers were scattered in all directions. On the 13th of August the
commodore entered Los Angeles and took possession of the capital of
California.
Commodore Stockton now set about to organize his conquest, and first of
all he issued a proclamation declaring California a territory of the
United States. A tariff of duties was established and collectors were
appointed to receive them at the different seaports. A constitution was
drawn up and put in operation, in which the powers and duties of the
various branches of the government were laid down. Major Frémont was
appointed governor of the territory, and directions were given for
elections to be held for civil magistrates, the conquered country
meanwhile remaining under martial law.
It had been the commodore's purpose to enlist a force of volunteers, and
taking them to Mexico, to land at Acapulco or some other convenient
point, and create a diversion of the Mexican army by an invasion from
the west coast, and for this reason he had installed Frémont as
governor; but circumstances soon after compelled him to change his plan,
which after all was perhaps somewhat visionary. In the month of
September, while he was busily occupied in northern California, a rising
took place at Los Angeles, under General Flores, and Pico the governor,
whom the Americans had released on their parole at the capture of the
city. The garrison left by the commodore was driven out and took refuge
in San Pedro. Thither Captain Mervine was ordered at once in the
"Savannah," and thither the "Congress" shortly followed him. Arriving at
San Pedro late in October, the commodore found that Captain Mervine had
just been defeated by the enemy, who were then besieging the little
town. The naval brigade was again landed, and presently the besieging
forces were driven off. From this time till the 1st of January the fleet
was occupied with preparations for a second and more serious attack upon
Los Angeles. The great advantage of the enemy was in his cavalry. Every
Californian was an expert horseman, and the Mexican ponies are trained
to the severest work. On the other hand the naval brigade, as might be
expected, was badly off in this essential arm of service. Commodore
Stockton was a man of bold and original mind, but even his mind did not
go to the length of forming a corps of marine cavalry; and besides,
there were no horses, for the Mexicans had taken care to strip the
country of ponies in the neighborhood of the southern ports. Parties
were sent out in all directions to obtain them, but with no success.
Finally Major Frémont was conveyed to Monterey with his battalion, with
the understanding that he should march south by land as soon as he had
completed his preparations; but as he was delayed from one cause or
another, and as Monterey was three hundred miles north of Los Angeles,
he did not arrive in time to take a part in the attack.
Early in December the force at San Diego was joined by Gen. S.W.
Kearney, of the army, a brave and devoted officer, who, after having
seized several points in New Mexico, had crossed the mountains from the
eastward with a few squadrons of dragoons. The Californians met him at
San Pasqual, not far from San Diego, where they gave him battle and
nearly cut to pieces his command. The remnant of the force, after their
gallant struggle, was only saved by the arrival of reinforcements from
Commodore Stockton, which escorted the general into San Diego. The
commodore now generously offered to give up the command to General
Kearney and to act as his aide. Kearney with equal magnanimity declined
the offer, and he was placed in charge of the land troops for the
proposed expedition, the commodore retaining the chief command.
Preparations were completed on the 29th of December, and the little army
set out. It was indeed a mongrel force, but it was none the less a good
army for the work in hand. It consisted of sixty dismounted dragoons who
had come with General Kearney; sixty mounted riflemen of the California
battalion; five hundred seamen and marines from the "Congress,"
"Savannah," "Portsmouth," and "Cyane;" and six pieces of artillery. The
force was poorly armed, many of the sailors having only boarding-pikes
and pistols, and the cavalry were badly mounted.
After a march of one hundred and forty miles, lasting ten days, the
Americans, on the 8th of January, came upon the enemy strongly posted on
the heights of San Gabriel, with six hundred mounted men and four pieces
of artillery, commanding the ford of the river. In a position where an
officer with a soldier's training would perhaps have hesitated,
Commodore Stockton's confidence and resolution influenced him to
advance. He forded the river under the enemy's guns without firing a
shot, dragged his guns through the water, and formed his men in squares
on the opposite bank. Here he repelled an attack of the enemy, and after
a stubborn conflict carried the heights by a charge. Next day, on the
march across the plains of the Mesa, the Mexicans made another desperate
effort to save the capital. They had a strong position, being concealed
with their artillery in a ravine till the commodore came within
gunshot; then they opened a brisk fire on his flank, at the same time
charging him both in front and rear. The squares of blue-jackets coolly
and steadily withstood the cavalry charge, and the enemy, after being
twice repulsed, were finally driven off the field and dispersed.
Immediately after the battle Commodore Stockton entered the city of Los
Angeles, and for the second and last time California was conquered.
The object of the Government was now accomplished. When the time came to
settle the conditions of peace, the territory of the United States was
increased by this immense district, comprising over 650,000 square
miles, and by far the largest part of the work had been done by Stockton
and his naval brigade.
Soon after these events Commodore Shubrick came out in the
"Independence" to take command of the station. He was followed by the
"Lexington" with a detachment of troops belonging to the regular
artillery. These were landed at the important points in California and
left to garrison them, and the fleet could now turn its attention to the
coast of Mexico, where vigorous demonstrations were soon after made.
Mazatlan, the principal seaport of Mexico in the Pacific, was captured
by a landing force of six hundred men from the fleet. Its garrison
retreated, and the victorious Americans held the town until the end of
the war, collecting duties at the custom-house, which went far to defray
the cost of maintaining the squadron.
Other towns were taken, some of them several times over. At Guaymas and
Mulejè attacks were made by the "Dale," under Commander Selfridge.
After defeating the Mexican chief Pineda, whose band of guerillas
infested the country about Mulejè, Captain Selfridge obtained a
schooner, and stationed her there under Lieutenant Craven to blockade
the port. At Guaymas a force was landed, and a severe fight took place
with the Mexicans, in which Selfridge was wounded. Though the force of
the "Dale" was too small to leave a garrison on shore, she remained off
the town and made it untenable for the enemy.
At San José, at the extremity of Lower California, a post was
established on shore in an old mission-house, which was garrisoned by
fifty-seven men,--seamen, marines, and volunteers,--under Lieutenant
Heywood. It was attacked in November, 1847, but the Mexicans failed in
their attempt to carry the place by assault. The town had been deserted,
and fifty or more women and children had taken refuge in the
mission-house. In February the attack was renewed by a large force of
Mexicans. Not wishing to risk an assault, they occupied the houses about
the mission and laid siege to the post. Twice Lieutenant Heywood made a
sortie with his gallant little force and drove them from their position;
but they recovered their ground as soon as he returned. The situation
was now becoming critical, for the supplies of the garrison began to
fall short, and the fugitives under their protection shared their
rations. At last they could not even get water; for with the close watch
maintained by the enemy, any man who ventured out was shot down. The
siege had lasted ten days, and the garrison would presently have been
starved into surrender, when by a fortunate chance the "Cyane" came into
the harbor. Commander Dupont, who was in command, immediately landed a
force from his ship and raised the siege, bringing off the heroic
garrison in safety. This was the last affair of importance on the west
coast.
* * * * *
In the Gulf the outbreak of the war had found a large squadron already
assembled. There were three fifty-gun frigates and half a dozen sloops
and brigs. There were also two steamers, the first that the United
States had used in war,--the large paddle-wheel vessel "Mississippi,"
and the "Princeton," which had gained a melancholy notoriety from the
bursting of one of her guns while on an experimental trip in the
Potomac, by which the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Navy, and
other high officers of the Government had lost their lives. The vessels,
however, were all too large for the service. The Mexican coast is a long
stretch of sand exposed to the sudden and tempestuous "northers," as
they are called,--furious northerly gales which blow frequently in the
Gulf. The important sea-coast towns lie mostly in deep bights or
recesses at the mouths of rivers, sometimes two or three miles up, with
a bar having but ten feet of water, and currents that render difficult
the pilotage of sailing-vessels. Vera Cruz, a large town with strong
fortifications, was an exception, for its harbor was deep and
accessible. The other points of importance--Tuspan, Tampico, Alvarado,
and Tabasco, the last of which lay some distance up the Tabasco
River--were partially protected by earthworks, but their principal
safeguard lay in the difficulties of a shallow and frequently shifting
entrance.
The headquarters of the squadron were fixed at Anton Lizardo, a harbor
formed by a group of small barren islands a few miles south of Vera
Cruz. A blockade was declared and maintained by vessels stationed off
the ports or cruising up and down the coast. In the course of the first
summer the squadron was reinforced by four sloops and brigs; and, what
was of much more importance, by two steam gunboats, the "Vixen" and
"Spitfire," each of which carried an 8-inch gun and two lighter guns.
These were the ideal vessels for service on the Mexican coast, with
their heavy gun and their light draught,--only seven feet; and it is a
curious fact that one of them, the "Vixen," was actually designed and
under construction for the Mexican Government in New York when she was
purchased by our own. Other steamers were added later, one of them a
revenue cutter: and a number of gunboat schooners were also sent down to
the station. The peculiar dangers and difficulties of the coast were
seen in two catastrophes that befell the squadron during the summer. The
brig "Truxtun," attempting to move against Tuspan, grounded on the bar
in the river, where it was necessary to abandon her, and where the
Mexicans left her after carrying off her guns; while another brig, the
"Somers," was sunk with half her crew in a "norther" which came down on
her without warning. Among the saved was her captain, Raphael Semmes,
the future commander of the "Alabama."
The first eight months of the war on the east coast, while the squadron
was under the command of Commodore Conner, were not marked by any great
success. In August an attempt was made to capture Alvarado, thirty
miles southeast of Vera Cruz. The large ships anchored off the bar, with
the gunboats close in, engaging the batteries during the afternoon and
evening, and a boat expedition was organized to attack in the morning;
but when the morning came, the fleet was called off on account of
threatening weather. In October the attempt was renewed, but with no
better success. This time the gunboats were arranged in two divisions,
each in tow of a steamer. After the first division had worked safely in,
the towing steamer of the second grounded on the bar, and the schooners
in tow got foul, and the van was left unsupported. This check was enough
to decide the commodore against prosecuting the attack; the van was
recalled, the grounded steamer got afloat, and the squadron sailed away
a second time from Alvarado.
In November the fleet made an important capture,--the seaport of
Tampico. Great preparations were made for the expedition, the force
despatched consisting of the two principal frigates,--the steamers
"Mississippi" and "Princeton,"--the sloop "St. Mary's," and a large
fleet of gunboats. The gunboats, with the boats from the large ships,
were safely towed over the bar and appeared before the city. The
authorities thereupon surrendered without any resistance. The city was
occupied, and a military government was established, which continued to
the end of the war.
Meanwhile another commodore had joined the squadron,--Matthew Calbraith
Perry, an officer whose reputation was second to that of no one of his
time in the service. At first Commodore Perry was chiefly employed in
detached enterprises. His first important success was an expedition in
October against Tabasco, a town lying seventy miles up the Tabasco
River. Leaving the "Mississippi" outside, he entered the river in the
"Vixen," and after having seized the shipping at Frontera, near the
mouth of the river, the expedition proceeded up to Tabasco. At its
approach the enemy abandoned the fort, but the Mexican commander,
occupying the town with his troops, refused to surrender. Fire was
opened on the town, but the commodore presently desisted from his
bombardment, at the entreaties of the foreign merchants who owned most
of the property. Nothing could be gained by laying the town in ruins;
and after a scattering fight on shore the troops were re-embarked, and
the flotilla returned, leaving two vessels at the entrance to continue
the blockade. The expedition had taken nine prizes and destroyed four
more, and had broken up the contraband trade in the river.
In December Commodore Perry commanded an expedition against Laguna, in
Yucatan. Yucatan was an uncertain friend, with a disposition to become
an annoying enemy by supplying the Mexicans with arms and munitions of
war from British Honduras and other points. Perry therefore occupied
Laguna, and installed Commander Sands in charge of the post as a
temporary governor.
The Government had now decided that it would be wise to change the plan
of campaign which had so far been followed in the war. General Taylor's
army, which had invaded Mexico from the Rio Grande, though it was
victorious at Monterey, and later at Buena Vista, could hardly hope to
penetrate into the heart of the country without great loss of time,
troops, and money. It was resolved to take a shorter route to the
interior and so decide the war. General Scott was to command the army
of invasion, and Vera Cruz was the point selected for the beginning of
its march. By the middle of February the transports containing General
Scott's army began to rendezvous at the island of Lobos, and storeships
to arrive at Anton Lizardo with materials for the expedition, including
sixty-seven surf-boats in which the troops were to be landed. The
preparation for the landing was made by the squadron, still under
Commodore Conner's command, with such despatch and thoroughness that
though General Scott and his staff only arrived on the 6th of March, on
the 9th the army was disembarked. Early on the morning of this day the
men-of-war, with the troops on board, sailed from their anchorage to
Sacrificios, an island just south of Vera Cruz, and by ten o'clock that
night the whole body of twelve thousand men had been landed without
mishap or loss.
No opposition was made to the landing, though the position offered great
advantages for defence. A line of investment five miles in length was
drawn about the city, and the erection of batteries was begun at once,
the naval forces being still employed in landing munitions of war. By
the 22d some of the batteries were ready, and the city having refused to
surrender, General Scott opened the bombardment.
On the day before the attack began, Commodore Conner, who had long been
in bad health, and who would have done more wisely to give up the
command before, was relieved by Commodore Perry. As the heavy guns
provided by the army for the siege--the battering train--had not
arrived, the army had only its mortars and a few light guns. These had
no effect upon the walls and bastions of the city, and General Scott
suggested to Commodore Perry that he should land some of the heavy
cannon from the ships. Perry answered that he would land the guns, and
moreover that he would fight them. Six heavy guns, each weighing three
tons, were landed, and, drawn by two hundred seamen and volunteers, they
were moved during the night of the 23d three miles from the
landing-place to their position in battery, seven hundred yards from the
city wall. On the morning of the 24th they opened, and immediately
drawing upon themselves the concentrated fire of the fortifications,
they did more real execution than all the batteries which had been
hitherto engaged.
The Mosquito fleet, as it was called, seconded the shore batteries in
the bombardment. This was a detachment of vessels composed of the
steamers "Spitfire" and "Vixen," and the five sailing gunboats, and
commanded by Commodore Tattnall, a very gallant officer, in the
"Spitfire." On the first day the flotilla lay off Point Hornos, and at
three in the afternoon, when the bombardment began, it opened upon the
city, continuing the fire till night. The next day, leaving one of his
schooners at the anchorage as a blind, Commander Tattnall took out the
six other vessels, the steamers having the gunboats in tow, as if to
rejoin the squadron. As soon as he had cleared the point he turned and
steamed up to within eight hundred yards of Fort San Juan d'Ulloa, and
directly between it and Fort St. Jago. From this position Tattnall
discharged a heavy fire into the city. As soon as the forts recovered
from their surprise they opened a concentrated fire upon the audacious
flotilla, which nevertheless kept at its post until Perry, fearing that
all the vessels would be lost, recalled them by signal. It was a
splendid sight to see Tattnall with his little vessels, without
protection,--for there were no ironclads in those days,--holding his
perilous position under the fire of the great forts, with his crews
loading and firing as coolly as if their work were but pastime. As the
surgeon stood for a moment on the deck of the "Spitfire," Tattnall
paused in his work to say, "Ah, doctor, this may not make life longer,
but it makes it a great deal broader!"
The bombardment by the batteries on shore lasted four days, during which
the unprotected inhabitants of the city were the chief sufferers; for
the strong castle of San Juan d'Ulloa, in its secure position on a reef
to the northward, was hardly injured at all. But perhaps there is no
more effective method of reducing a town than by the sufferings of its
inhabitants, cruel as the method is; and on the 26th of March
negotiations were opened by the besieged, which were concluded the next
day by the signing of a capitulation including both the town and the
castle.
On the day after the surrender of Vera Cruz an expedition was planned
for the third time against Alvarado. Extensive preparations had been
made, and a brigade from the army under General Quitman was detailed to
co-operate by land. The enterprise had a truly singular ending.
Commodore Perry had sent the sloop-of-war "Albany" and the small steamer
"Scourge" as an advance force to lie off the bar of the river and
reconnoitre. The "Scourge," commanded by Lieutenant Hunter, arriving
before the "Albany," stood close in to the land, abreast of the outer
fort, and seeing indications of flinching, fired a few shot into it. The
fort, having no intention of resistance after the fall of Vera Cruz,
and understanding the fire as a summons to yield, sent a boat to the
"Scourge" with an officer, who tendered a surrender. Upon this,
Lieutenant Hunter threw a midshipman and five men into the fort, and
pushing on to the town took possession of it, as well as of another town
near by, and after capturing all the shipping, held his course up the
river. When Commodore Perry arrived with his fleet and General Quitman
with his brigade, they found the capture, for which they had made such
large preparations, already effected, and the place was turned over to
them by the midshipman in charge. Lieutenant Hunter was still up the
river, where he could be heard firing this way and that in his career of
conquest. It was stated that one of the secondary objects of the
expedition, the capture of supplies, was partly defeated by this
premature action. The commander-in-chief commented with extreme severity
upon Lieutenant Hunter in his report, and caused him to be
court-martialled, which seemed rather hard, as he had only erred through
excess of zeal.
Commodore Perry next resolved to attack Tuspan, a town about one hundred
miles northwest of Vera Cruz. It was the only point of importance on the
coast remaining in the enemy's hands. The squadron, which was now well
equipped for service, rendezvoused at Lobos, off the mouth of the Tuspan
River. Two days were spent here in organizing landing-parties and
practising field exercises with a battery of light artillery which the
commodore had organized. With the thoroughness that marked all his
preparations, Perry spent another day in sounding on the bar and buoying
the channel. At length all was ready, and on the 18th of April the
attack was made. The flotilla was in three lines, each in tow of a
steamer, the commodore leading in the "Spitfire." Besides the gunboats
and steamers there were thirty barges, each containing a detachment from
the ships. The river, about three hundred yards wide, was defended by
three forts, enfilading the reaches of the stream and mounting seven
guns, most of which had been taken from the "Truxtun" when she was lost
on the bar of Tuspan the year before. The enemy were stationed as
sharpshooters in the thick chapparal on the banks. As soon as the boats
came within range, a hot fire of grape was opened on them from the
forts. The detachment from the "Germantown," under Commander
Buchanan,--an officer of whom we shall hear more in the later war,--was
first in the advance, and was ordered to storm the nearest fort. This
was gallantly done, and the enemy were driven out. The second and third
forts were carried in the same way by storming-parties, the river-banks
were cleared of their concealed sharpshooters, and before evening the
town was in possession of the Americans.
In June a similar expedition was sent against Tabasco, which Commodore
Perry had attacked successfully the year before, but which was again a
centre of detached operations by Mexican guerillas. As at Tuspan, the
details of the enterprise were prepared beforehand with the utmost care
and skill; every contingency was provided for, and the machinery ran as
smoothly as clock-work. The enemy were driven off, their forts
destroyed, their stores removed, and to provide against a recurrence of
operations, a force was left to occupy the place.
This was the last enterprise of importance in the naval war. The army
was now fighting its way to the city of Mexico, but the coast was
entirely reduced. At all the important ports the blockade had been
converted into an occupation, and a military government under officers
of the squadron had been established. The custom-houses were placed in
charge of naval officers, a tariff was laid, and duties were collected
in the name of the Government. So matters remained until the end of the
war.
[Illustration]
University Press: John Wilson & Son, Cambridge.
Transcriber's notes:
Punctuation normalized.
On page 9 "SCIMETARS" replaced with "SCIMITARS."
On page 53 "afternooon" replaced with "afternoon."
On page 104 "dfficulties" replaced with "difficulties."
On page 142 "inpetuous" replaced with "impetuous."