The Battle of Resaca de la Palma--Defence of Fort Brown--The Great
Western.
When the sun rose on the morning of the 9th a mist of mingled smoke and
vapor hung over the battle field of Palo Alto, but, as the haze lifted
from the levels, the Mexicans were perceived retreating by their left
flank, in order, perhaps, to gain a more advantageous position on the
road in which they might resist our progress towards Matamoros. This
movement inspirited our troops, who, craving the interest of a new
position, were loath to repeat the battle of yesterday on the same
field. Accordingly General Taylor ordered the supply train to be parked
at its position and left under the guard of two twelve-pounders and the
fatal eighteens which had done such signal service on the 8th. The
wounded men and officers were next despatched to Point Isabel, and we
then moved across the Llano Burro towards the edge of the dense
chapparal which extends for a distance of seven miles to the Rio Grande.
The light companies of the first brigade under Captain Smith, of the
second artillery; and a select detachment of light troops, all commanded
by Captain McCall, were thrown forward into the thickets to feel the
enemy and ascertain the position he finally took.
In our advance we crossed the ground occupied by the Mexicans on the 8th
where their line had been mowed by our artillery. Shattered limbs,
riven skulls, slain and wounded horses, dying men, military
accoutrements, gun stocks and bayonets lay strewn around, the terrible
evidences of war and havoc. As our men pressed on they encountered, at
every step, appeals to their humanity, from the famished and thirsty
remnants of the Mexican army whose wounds did not permit them to advance
with their compatriots; but it may be recorded to the honor of the
troops, that our maimed enemies were in no instance left without succor,
and that officers and men vied with each other in relieving their wants
and despatching them to our hospitals.
About three o'clock in the afternoon a report was sent from the scouts
that the enemy were again in position on the road, which they held with
at least two pieces of artillery. The command was immediately put in
motion, and, about an hour after, came up with Captain McCall.
The field of Palo Alto was an open plain, well adapted for the fair
fight of a pitched battle, but Resaca de la Palma, which we now
approached, possessed altogether different features. The position was
naturally strong, and had been judiciously seized by the Mexicans. The
matted masses of chapparal, sprinkled in spots with small patches of
prairie, formed an almost impassable barrier on both sides of the road
along which we were forced to advance. The Resaca de la Palma, or,
Ravine of the Palm, fifty yards wide and nearly breast high, crosses the
road at right angles, and then bends, at both ends, in the shape of a
horse shoe. The low portions of the gully are generally filled with
water, forming long and winding ponds through the prairie, whilst, in
the rainy season, these pools unite across the ridge which forms the
road and flow off towards the Rio Grande. Along the banks of this ravine
the thickets of chapparal, nourished by the neighboring water, grow more
densely than elsewhere, and, at the period of the battle, formed a
solid wall penetrated only by the highway.
It was along the edges of this hollow that the Mexicans, led by Arista
and Ampudia, had posted themselves in two lines,--one under the front
declivity, and the other entrenched behind the copse of chapparal which
shielded the bank in the rear. In the centre of each line, on the right
and left of the road, a battery was placed, whilst other batteries were
disposed so as to assail us in flank. In this strongly fortified
position, supported by infantry, cavalry and ordnance, several thousand
Mexicans stood around the curving limits of the ravine, ready to rake us
with their terrible cross-fires as we advanced by the road between the
horns of the crescent.[109]
It will be perceived, from this description, that the character of the
action was essentially changed from the affair of the 8th. Almost
entrenched as were the Mexicans behind the ravine and chapparal, they
now stood on the defensive resolutely awaiting our assault, whilst, at
Palo Alto, they had assumed an offensive attitude, aiming either to
capture or destroy our army.
In the passage of our troops between Matamoros and Point Isabel, the
practiced eye of our military men often remarked the value of this
ravine as a point of strength; and it had been already supposed that
when the enemy halted, to resist our march, they would avail themselves
of it for a battle ground. Hence this excellent position was not unknown
to General Taylor, and he promptly prepared a combined attack of
infantry, artillery and cavalry by which he might succeed in driving the
American army like a wedge, through the narrow but only aperture that
admitted its transit to our fort.
Accordingly, as soon as Captain McCall received his orders, in the
earlier part of the day, he advanced with his men, and directed Captain
C. F. Smith, of the second artillery, with the light company of the
first brigade, to move to the right of the road, whilst he proceeded on
the left with a detachment of artillery and infantry. Walker and a small
force of rangers was despatched to make a hazardous reconnoissance of
the road in front, while Lieutenant Plesanton, with a few of the second
dragoons, marched in rear of the columns of infantry.
After following the trail of the enemy for about two miles and a half
across the Llano Burro, and learning from Walker that the road was
clear, McCall pushed the rangers into the chapparal, within supporting
distance, and soon dislodged some parties of Mexicans. On reaching the
open ground near Resaca, the head of his column received three rounds of
canister from a masked battery, which forced his men to take cover,
after killing one private and wounding two sergeants. They rapidly
rallied however, and Captain Smith's detachment being brought to the
left of the road, it was proposed to attack by a flank movement, what,
at the moment, was supposed to be only the rear guard of the retiring
army. But after a quick examination of the field by Dobbins and McCoun,
who discovered large bodies of Mexicans in motion on our left, while the
road, in front, was held by lancers, McCall resolved to despatch three
dragoons to the commander in chief with the news and await his arrival.
It was about four o'clock in the afternoon that General Taylor came up
with the skirmishers and received an exact report of the enemy's
position. Lieutenant Ridgely, who, upon the Major's fall, had succeeded
to the command of Ringgold's battery, was immediately ordered to advance
on the highway, while the fifth infantry and one wing of the fourth
were thrown into the chapparal with McCall's command on the left, at the
same time that the third and the other wing of the fourth entered the
thicket on the right with Smith's detachment. These corps were employed
to cover the battery, to act as skirmishers, and engage the Mexican
infantry. The action, at once became general, spirited and bloody, for
although the enemy's infantry gave way before the steady fire and
resistless progress of our own, yet his artillery was still in position
to check our advance by means of the fatal pieces which commanded the
pass through the ravine.
This was the moment, however, when the centre was destined to be
penetrated and broken--Ridgely, as has been stated, had been ordered to
the road, and, after advancing cautiously for a short distance, he
descried the enemy about four hundred yards in advance. Pressing onward
until within perfect range of his guns he began to play upon the foe
with deadly discharges. But the resolute Mexicans were not to be
repulsed. Returning shot for shot, their grape surged through our
battery in every direction, yet without repulsing the intrepid Ridgely,
who, as soon as the opposing fire slackened, limbered up and moved
rapidly forward, never unlimbering unless he perceived the enemy in
front or found from the fire of their infantry that they still hung upon
his flank. During this fierce advance into the jaws of the Mexican
crescent, he frequently threw into it discharges of canister when not
over one hundred yards from the opposing batteries and their support.
After hammering the centre for some time with this iron hail, and
keeping the wings of the Mexicans engaged with the other troops, a
movement with dragoons was planned for the final onslaught. May, with
his powerful corps, was directed to report to the general, and
immediately received orders from Taylor to charge the enemy's battery.
Thridding the mazes of the chapparal and of the road with his dense
squadron he came up with Ridgely, and halting a moment while that
gallant soldier poured a volley into the enemy, which was answered by a
shower of rattling grape, he dashed at the head of his troopers, like
lightning from the midst of the cloud of smoke, over the guns of the
astonished Mexicans. As the dragoons rushed at full tilt, with gleaming
swords, along the road, the artillerists leaped upon their pieces and
cheered them on. The infantry in the chapparal took up the shout, and
before the combined thunder of cannon, huzzas, and galloping cavalry had
died away, May and his troopers had charged through the seven opposing
pieces, and rose again on the heights in rear of the ravine. Graham,
Winship and Plesanton led the movement on the left of the road, whilst
the captain, with Inge, Stevens and Sackett, bore off to the right. But,
after gaining the elevation, only six dragoons could be rallied, and
with these May charged back upon the gunners who had regained their
pieces, drove them off, and took prisoner the brave La Vega who stood to
his unwavering artillery during the heat of the dreadful onslaught.
Meanwhile Ridgely, as soon as May had passed him, followed the charge at
a gallop, only halting on the edge of the ravine where he found three
pieces of deserted artillery. Here the Mexican infantry poured into him
a galling fire at a distance of not more than fifty paces, and a most
desperate and murderous struggle ensued, for the charge of cavalry had
not been promptly sustained by the infantry in consequence of the
difficulty it experienced in struggling through the masses of chapparal.
It was about this time that the eighth regiment was encountered by May
who informed Colonel Belknap of the exploit which had been rendered
almost unavailing for want of supporting infantry. Belknap promptly
ordered the regiment to form on the road with a part of the fifth,
whence, it was impetuously charged on the enemy's guns. This admirable
assault was executed with the greatest celerity; the battery was
secured; the infantry sprang across the ravine amidst a sheet of fire
from front and right, and drove the supporting column before it,
destroying in vast numbers the troops that pertinaciously resisted until
forced headlong from the fatal hollow. Montgomery with his regiment
pursued the Mexicans vigorously into the chapparal on the opposite side
of the Resaca until from their rapid flight, further attempts were
utterly useless.
Thus was the centre of the enemy's lines completely broken. The task
would be endless were I to recount the valiant deeds of the American and
Mexican wings in the thickets on the right and left of the road. It was
a short but severe onset, disputed on both sides, with an intrepidity
that resembled rather the bitterness of a personal conflict than a
regular battle. The nature of the ground among the groves was such as to
forbid any thing but close quarters and the use of the bayonet, knife,
or sword. Officers and men fought side by side, supporting more than
leading each other upon the opposing ranks. Bayonets were crossed,
swords clashed, stalwart arms held foes at bay, and American and Mexican
rolled side by side on the blood stained earth.
I have dwelt upon the action in the centre because it controlled the
road, dispersed the foe and won the day; but the effort would be
invidious were I to relate instances of individual hardihood and skill,
when all the valiant actors in the drama were fearless and unfaltering.
The charge of May was not unlike the assault at Waterloo of Ponsonby's
victorious cavalry, supported by Vandeleur's light horse, upon the
twenty-four pieces of D'Erlon's battery; in regard to which Napoleon
was heard to exclaim, in the heat of the battle,--"How terribly those
gray horsemen fight!" But in that conflict, Frenchmen opposed the
Anglo-saxons, and Milhaud's steel clad cuirassiers, charging Ponsonby's
brigade after it had carried the guns and attacked even a third line of
artillery and lancers, readily overcame the exhausted troopers and slew
their gallant leader.
At Resaca de la Palma, however the result was different. The artillery
battalion, which, with the exception of the flank companies, had been
ordered to guard the train on the morning of the 9th, was now ordered up
to pursue the routed enemy; and the third infantry, Ker's dragoons and
Duncan's battery followed the Mexicans rapidly to the river. Shouting,
singing, almost frantic with delight at their eminent success, our men
rushed after the flying Mexicans. The pursuit became a perfect rout as
they pressed on to the banks of the Rio Grande, and numbers of the enemy
were drowned in attempting the passage of the fatal stream. The pursuing
corps encamped near the Rio Grande, while the remainder of the army
rested for the night on the field of battle. The want of a _ponton
train_[110] prevented us from following the foe across the river on the
night of the 9th; but, as the government had failed to provide General
Taylor with that useful equipage, notwithstanding his frequent warnings
of its need, he was deprived of the first chance in this war to
annihilate the Mexican army and to seize all the arms and ammunition
collected in Matamoros. The capture, however, of Arista's camp and its
equipage was a recompense for our men who had fought so bravely. The
Mexican chief had gone into the campaign with every comfort around him,
and was evidently unprepared for defeat at Resaca de La Palma, for, at
the moment of our victory, his camp-kettles were found simmering over
the fires filled with viands from which he had doubtless designed to
make a savory meal after our capture. The food however was destined to
other uses; and, after a communication with the fort which held out
staunchly against the enemy during both contests, our men sat down to
enjoy the repast which the Mexicans had cooked.
* * * * *
Unable as we were to secure the best results of victory, from the cause
already narrated, these battles were, nevertheless, of great importance.
We had achieved success in the face of brave foes outnumbering us more
than two to one, and had conquered an army of Mexican veterans,
perfectly equipped and appointed. In the battle of Palo Alto our force,
engaged, had been one hundred and seventy-seven officers, two thousand
one hundred and eleven men, or an aggregate of two thousand two hundred
and eighty-eight;--in the action of Resaca de la Palma we brought into
the field one hundred and seventy-three officers and two thousand and
forty nine men, or, an aggregate of two thousand two hundred and
twenty-two, while the actual number _engaged_ with the enemy did not
exceed seventeen hundred. In the first affair we had nine killed,
forty-four wounded[111] and two missing; but in the second, our loss was
three officers and thirty-six men killed, and seventy-one wounded.
Lieutenant Inge fell at the head of his platoon while charging with May;
Lieutenants Cochrane and Chadburne likewise met their death in the
thickest of the fight; while Lieutenant Colonels Payne and McIntosh;
Captains Montgomery and Hooe; and Lieutenants Fowler, Dobbins, Gates,
Jordan, Selden, Maclay, Burbank and Morris, were wounded on the field of
Resaca de la Palma.
The Mexican army, under Arista and Ampudia, amounted to at least six
thousand men, having been strongly reinforced with cavalry and infantry
after the battle of the 8th; and it is highly probable that the whole of
this force was opposed to us in their choice position. In one of his
despatches, after the battles, Arista confesses that he still had under
arms four thousand troops exclusive of numerous auxiliaries, and that he
lost in the affair at Palo Alto four officers and ninety-eight men
killed;--eleven officers and one hundred and sixteen men wounded, and
twenty-six privates and non-commissioned officers missing;--while in the
battle of Resaca de la Palma, six officers and one hundred and
fifty-four men were slain; twenty-three officers and two hundred and
five wounded, and three officers and one hundred and fifty-six
missing,--making a total loss of seven hundred and fifty-five. Eight
pieces of artillery, several colors and standards, a great number of
prisoners, including fourteen officers, and a large quantity of camp
equipage, muskets, small arms, mules, horses, pack-saddles, subsistence,
personal baggage, and private as well as regimental papers, fell into
our hands. The plan of campaign, as alleged to have been developed by
Arista's port-folio, was based upon the "reconquest of the lost
province," into which the Mexican forces were to have been pushed as
soon as our army was demolished on the Rio Grande. If it should be
necessary to secure the fruits of victory by further military efforts,
it was arranged that ample reinforcements were to be brought into the
field, and subsequently that President Paredes, himself, should march
an army of occupation into Texas and bear his conquering eagles to the
Sabine!
* * * * *
After this narrative of our actions in the field let us recur for a
moment to the gallant garrison which had been shut up in the fort since
the beginning of the month, and in regard to whose fate the liveliest
anxiety was experienced.
When the commander-in-chief departed on the 1st of May to open the line
of communication with Point Isabel, prevent an attack upon the depot,
and, finally, to succor the fort with subsistence and munitions, the
field work, though capable of defence, was not completed. The events of
the few preceding days had denoted a resolution on the part of the
Mexicans to assail us immediately, and warned our small garrison to
prepare for all emergencies. Accordingly the labor of ditching and
embanking on the unfinished front was resumed; but neither the
draw-bridge nor the interior defences were yet commenced, and to all
these works, Mansfield, with his engineers and detachments of infantry,
devoted themselves unceasingly during the whole of the bombardment,
which began at day-break, on Sunday, the 3d of May.
The Mexicans had been engaged for some time erecting fortifications
along the river front of their town opposite our field work, and by
this time had prepared them for action. They commenced their attack
from the fort and mortar battery called _La redonda_, which they had
placed under the orders of a French officer of artillery, who
manifested a perfect knowledge of his profession during the conflict.
Nine pieces of ordnance,--four omortars, and the remainder six and
eight-pounders,--poured into our works an incessant shower of shot and
shells; but our batteries returned the fire so effectually, that in
thirty minutes, _La redonda_ was abandoned. Passing from this
fortification to another lower down, the enemy again opened upon us
from _La fortina de la flecha_, as well as from intermediate batteries
and a mortar in their vicinity. It soon became evident that our
six-pounders produced no serious effects in consequence of the
distance; and, desiring to husband his resources for greater
emergencies, Major Brown ordered the firing to cease entirely on our
side of the river. The garrison had been left with only one hundred and
fifty rounds of ammunition for each eighteen-pounder while the
six-pounders were as badly provided!
The silence of our guns in the presence of an assailing foe,
disheartened our men for an instant, but they immediately betook
themselves energetically to their task on the defences, though the
enemy's shells exploded in every direction about them. On the 4th the
Mexicans again resumed the fight and continued their vollies until
midnight. At nine o'clock on that evening irregular discharges of
musketry were heard in our rear apparently extending a mile up the
river, and continuing until near the termination of the cannonade. Every
soldier in the fort therefore stood to his arms all night long, manning
each battery and point of defence in expectation of an assault from the
forces that had crossed the river and filled the adjacent plains and
thickets. But the anxious night passed without an attack at close
quarters, and, at day-light, on the 5th, the enemy again commenced their
fire from the distant batteries. The sound of war was gratifying to the
Mexicans, but its conflicts were safer from behind the walls and
parapets of their forts, with an intervening river, than in dangerous
charges against the muzzles of our guns! As soon as the cannonade
recommenced, it was immediately returned by a few discharges from the
eighteen-pounders and six-pounder-howitzer; and the voice of our guns
once more exhilarated the men, though their shots were ineffectual. Both
batteries ceased firing simultaneously, and our indefatigable soldiers
again set to work on the defences, completed the ramparts, and made
rapid progress in the construction of a bomb-proof and traverse in rear
of the postern.
These were anxious days and hours for a garrison short of ammunition,
assailed by an enemy equipped with every species of deadly missile,
probably surrounded by superior numbers concealed on the left bank of
the river, and yet forced to labor on the very fortifications which were
to keep off the foe. During all this time, however, no one desponded.
Day and night they toiled incessantly on the works amid the shower of
shot and bombs, nor was a sound of sorrow heard within the little fort
until its brave commander fell, mortally wounded by a shell, on the 6th
of May. The game was kept up during all this day; mounted men were seen
along the prairie, while infantry were noticed creeping through the
thickets; but a few rounds of canister, from Bragg's battery, dispersed
the assailants.
About four o'clock of this day a white flag was observed at some old
buildings in the rear of our work, and a parley was sounded by the
enemy. Two officers were soon descried approaching us, and an equal
number were despatched by Captain Hawkins, (who had succeeded Major
Brown in the command of the fort,) to meet them within two hundred and
fifty yards of our lines. A communication from General Arista was
delivered by the herald, and the Mexicans were requested to retire a
short distance and await the reply.
In this document Arista declared that our fort was surrounded by forces
adequate to its capture, while a numerous division, encamped in the
neighborhood, was able to keep off all succors that might be expected.
He alleged that his respect for humanity urged him to mitigate as much
as possible the disasters of war, and he therefore summoned our garrison
to surrender, in order to avoid by capitulation, the entire destruction
of the command. This mingled mission of humanity and revenge demanded
the immediate notice of our troops, and, accordingly, a brief council
was held in which it was unanimously resolved to decline the
philanthropic proposal. Hawkins, at once despatched his courteous but
firm reply, and the enemy acknowledged its receipt by a storm of shot
and shell which was literally showered into the works.
It would be but repeating a narrative of one day's scenes were we to
detail the events of the 7th, 8th and 9th of May. The bravado contained
in Arista's despatch, had failed in its effort to intimidate us;
nevertheless we were compelled to undergo the severest task that a
soldier can suffer in passive non-resistance, whilst the enemy, from
afar, strove to bury our fort under the weight of their projectiles.
Bombs and shot were, however, unavailing. The defences proved equal to
our perfect protection; and all continued to work cheerfully in the
trenches until the distant sounds of battle were heard booming from Palo
Alto and Resaca. Anxiety was dispelled, and hope ripened into certainty
as the cannonade grew louder and drew nearer the river, until, at last,
on the evening of the ninth, the Mexican squadrons raced past the fort
and received the reserved shot of the eighteens which poured their
masses of grape among the flying groups. As our pursuing forces rushed
out from behind the thickets and beheld the American flag still aloft in
the works, they sent forth a cheer which was answered by the rejoicing
garrison, and the valley of the Rio Grande reverberated with the
exultation of delight. Victory and relief; a routed foe and succored
friends, enlivened every heart, and even the foremost and bitterest in
pursuit halted a moment to exchange congratulations upon the events of
the glorious day.
Thus the separate forces of the United States were again brought
together; and FORT BROWN,--which now received its name from the
brave Major who died on the 9th,--was found to have lost but two by
death and only fourteen wounded during the whole bombardment.
* * * * *
Every war produces its singular characters whose influence or example
are not without their due effect upon the troops, and, at the conclusion
of these chapters, which are so stained with blood and battle, it may
not be useless to sketch, even upon the grave page of history, the deeds
of a woman whose courageous spirit bore her through all the trials of
this bombardment, but whose masculine hardihood was softened by the
gentleness of a female heart. Woman has every where her sphere of power
over the rougher sex, but the women of a camp must possess qualities to
which their tender sisters of the saloon are utter strangers.
Some years ago, in the far west, a good soldier joined one of our
regiments, with his tall and gaunt wife, whose lofty figure and stalwart
frame almost entitled her as much as her husband to a place in the ranks
of the gallant seventh. Unwilling to abandon her liege lord upon his
enlistment, this industrious female was immediately employed as one of
the laundresses, three of whom are allowed to draw rations in each
company, and are required to wash for the soldiers at a price regulated
by a council of officers. The "Great Western,"--for by this soubriquet
was she known in the army,--arrived at Corpus Christi with her husband,
and up to the period of our departure for the Rio Grande performed all
her appropriate duties, keeping, in addition, a "mess" for the younger
officers of the regiment. When the army advanced, the women, with some
exceptions, were despatched by sea to Point Isabel, while a few procured
ponies to follow the soldiers in their tedious march. The husband of the
Great Western was sent in one of the transports to the Brazos, but his
hardy spouse did not deign to accompany him in this comfortable mode of
transit, declaring that "the boys of her mess must have some one to take
care of them on their toilsome march." Accordingly, having purchased a
cart and loaded it with luggage, cooking utensils, and supplies, she
mounted behind her donkey with whip in hand, and displayed during the
wearisome advance, qualities which the best teamster in the train might
have envied. Throughout the whole journey she kept her boarders well
provided with excellent rations; and, when her brigade reached the banks
of the Colorado she was one of the first who offered to cross in the
face of the resisting enemy. After calmly surveying the scene, which has
been described in another chapter, she remarked, with great coolness,
that "if the general would give her a stout pair of tongs she would wade
the river and whip every scoundrel Mexican that dared show his face on
the opposite side!"
When Taylor marched to Point Isabel on the 1st of May, the Great Western
was of course left behind with the seventh infantry. Together with the
eight or ten women who remained, she moved, at once into the fort, where
her mess was soon re-established in a tent near the centre of the works.
The enemy's fire began on the 3d, as she was commencing her preparations
for breakfast, and the women were, of course, immediately deposited for
safety in the almost vacant magazines. But it may be recorded to their
honor that they were not idle during the siege. Nobly did they ply their
needles in preparing sand bags from the soldiers' and officers' tents to
strengthen the works and protect the artillerists whilst serving at
their guns; yet, the Great Western, declining either to sew or to nestle
in the magazine, continued her labors over the fire in the open air.
After the discharge of the first gun all were at their posts, answering
the shot from the Mexican forts; and, when the hour for breakfast
arrived, none expected the luxury that awaited them. Nevertheless the
_mess_ was as well attended as if nothing but a morning drill, with
blank cartridges, had occurred, and, in addition, a large supply of
delicious coffee awaited the thirsty, who had but to come and partake,
without distinction of rank. To some of the artillerists who were unable
to leave their guns, the beverage was carried by this excellent female;
and, as may readily be believed, no _belle_ of Orleans, ever met a more
gracious reception. The fire of the artillery was kept up almost
incessantly until near the dinner hour, when the Great Western again
provided a savory soup which she distributed to the men without charge.
Thus did she continue to fulfil her duties during the seven days that
the enemy kept up an incessant cannonade and bombardment. She was ever
to be found at her post; her meals were always ready at the proper hour,
and always of the best that the camp afforded. When the despatches, sent
by Walker, were made up for General Taylor on the evening of the 4th, a
number of officers and men wrote to their friends at Point Isabel; and
among them this courageous woman found time to communicate with her
husband who had not been despatched from the depot to Fort Brown. In
this document she expressed her full confidence in the ability of the
garrison to sustain itself, and only regretted the absence of her
spouse. To supply his place, however, she applied, early in the action,
for a musket and ammunition which she placed in security, expressing her
determination to have full satisfaction whenever the enemy dared to
approach within range of her piece. This they never did, and our
indomitable heroine must rest contented with the reflection that she
nobly performed her duty, and will long be remembered by the besieged
garrison of Fort Brown.
NOTE.--The reader who desires to verify the accounts of
the actions narrated in the two last chapters, will find
all the authentic papers upon which they are founded, in
the national documents relative to the war published
during the two sessions of the twenty-ninth congress.
* * * * *
It will be observed that the name of General Worth does not
occur in the account of these recent transactions on the Rio
Grande. This excellent soldier had left Florida in
September, 1845, and was early on the ground at Corpus
Christi in command of the first brigade consisting of one
artillery battalion and the eighth regiment of infantry. His
march and acts on the Rio Grande have been recounted in the
preceding chapters; but soon after his arrival he received
the mortifying intelligence that he had been superseded in
rank by an arrangement announced from the war department.
He, therefore, deemed it due to himself as an officer to
demonstrate his sensibility by resigning at once, especially
as he was convinced that there would be no engagement
between the armies, and that the war would be concluded by
despatches and bulletins instead of arms. Nevertheless he
left the American camp with regret, (tendering his services
"out of authority," to the general in command,) and
travelled with despatch to Washington. On arriving there he
learned that hostilities had actually commenced; and waiving
all his personal feeling, he immediately withdrew his
resignation, with a request for permission to return
forthwith to the command of the troops from which he was
separated, by army orders, in April, 1846. His wish was
granted by the secretary of war as soon as it was made known
on the 9th of May, and Worth hastened back to Mexico, where
his bravery and skill were subsequently so conspicuous.--See
Niles's Register, vol. 70, p. 313.
FOOTNOTES:
[109] Army on the Rio Grande, p. 93, and see plan of the battle.
[110] In May 1846, _after these battles_, an act of Congress was finally
passed authorising the organization of a company of sappers, miners and
pontoniers. The war department had not the right to form such a corps
previous to this enactment.
[111] Page and Ringgold died subsequently.
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| Transcriber's Note: |
| |
| Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the |
| original document have been preserved. |
| |
| Typographical errors corrected in the text: |
| |
| Page 2 ^ shows that the following letters are |
| superscript |
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| Page 13 repartiamentos changed to repartiamientos |
| Page 16 leatheren changed to leathern |
| Page 24 felitously changed to felicitously |
| Page 31 cannister changed to canister |
| Page 46 beseiged changed to besieged |
| Page 47 Cohuila changed to Coahuila |
| Page 50 Campaga changed to Campana |
| Page 57 preponderence changed to preponderance |
| Page 62 maratime changed to maritime |
| Page 63 exhorbitant changed to exorbitant |
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| Page 83 petulence changed to petulance |
| Page 89 Guadelupe changed to Guadalupe |
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| Page 97 portions changed to potions |
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| Page 125 Matamoras changed to Matamoros |
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