Captain Mayne Reid returned from Mexico to the United States in the
spring of 1848.
He spent the autumn and winter at his friend Donn Piatt's house in the
valley of the Mac-o-Chee, Ohio. Here he wrote the greater part of "The
Rifle Rangers," in which he gives us pictures of his Mexican life,
returning to New York in the spring of 1849. The question was then
going the round of the newspapers, "Who was first into Chapultepec?"
The following is an extract from a letter written by Mayne Reid in
reference to the storming of Chapultepec, and in which he inclosed some
testimonies of his part in the affair:
"These documents were hastily collected in New York in the spring of
1849, when I heard of other individuals claiming to have been first into
Chapultepec. I do not claim to have been first over the walls, as I did
not get over the wall at all, but was shot down in front of it; but I
claim to have led up the men who received the last volley of the enemy's
fire, and thus left the scaling the wall a mere matter of climbing, as
scarcely any one was shot afterwards.
"While collecting this testimony I was suddenly called upon to take the
leadership of a legion organised in New York to assist the revolutionary
struggle in Europe, and I sailed at the latter end of June, 1849.
Otherwise I could have obtained far more testimony than contained in
these scant documents here.
"Mayne Reid.
"P.S.--General Pillow was at the time using every exertion to disprove
my claims, it being a life and death matter with him, having an eye to
the Presidency, to prove that the men of his division were the first to
enter Chapultepec."
The following testimony was given to Mayne Reid, and, as he says,
"generously given, as only one of these officers was my personal friend,
the others being almost unknown to me."
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Testimony of Lieutenant Cochrane, Second Regiment of Voltigeurs.
"On the morning of the 13th of September, 1847, the regiment of
Voltigeurs, to which I was attached as subaltern officer, was ordered to
clear the woods and the western side of the wall, extending from Molino
del Rey to the Castle of Chapultepec, of the Mexican Infantry (light),
and to halt at the foot of the hill, in order to allow the storming
party of Worth's division to scale the hill.
"We drove the Mexicans as ordered, but in so rapid a manner that, along
with some of the infantry of the Fourteenth, Fifteenth, and Ninth of
Pillow's division, we kept driving the enemy under a heavy fire from the
Castle, and a redan on the side of the hill, clear into their works--the
storming party coming up rapidly.
"After driving them from the redan, I pushed for the south-western
corner of the Castle with all the men about me, and scarcely ten yards
from the wall, an officer of infantry, and either an officer or sergeant
of artillery--judging from the stripe on his pants--were shot, and fell.
They were the only two at the time that I saw in advance of me along
the narrow path, the rock of which we were scrambling. On collecting
under the wall of the Castle there were some thirty or forty of us
infantry and Voltigeurs at the extreme corner of the Castle, and several
other officers were there at the same point. The main body had halted
at the scarp of the hill, some forty yards from the wall, awaiting the
arrival of the scaling ladders before making the final and decisive
assault.
"I ordered two men of the Voltigeurs to go back a little way and assist
the ladders up the hill. As they proceeded to do so they passed the
point where the infantry officer above alluded to lay wounded, who, with
evident pain, raised himself and sang out above the din and rattle of
musketry:
"`For God's sake, men, don't leave that wall, or we shall all be cut to
pieces. Hold on, and the Castle is ours!' or words to that effect.
"I immediately answered from the wall: `There is no danger, Captain, of
our leaving this. Never fear'--or words to that amount.
"Shortly after the ladders came--the rush was made and the Castle fell.
"In the course of a casual conversation about the events of that
memorable morning, while in the city of Mexico, this incident was
mentioned, and the officer who was wounded proved to be Lieutenant Mayne
Reid, of the New York Volunteers, who had been ordered to guard the
battering guns upon the plain, and had joined the party in the assault
on the Molino del Rey side of the Castle. I spoke freely of this
matter, and was quite solicitous to become acquainted, while in Mexico,
with the gallant and chivalric officer in question. This is a hasty and
imperfect sketch of this transaction. I heard that Lieutenant Reid had
made a speech to the men of all arms, which had induced them to ascend;
but, as a party were fiercely engaged at the redan for a few seconds, I
could not have heard his remarks above the din, as I was one of the
redan party. It may be possible that the above speech is the one
alluded to, though from what I heard said of it, he must have made other
remarks at an earlier moment.
"Of course, I have not given the exact words, as some eighteen months
have elapsed since that never-to-be-forgotten day, but I have given the
_fact_ and the substance of the words, which shows far more--the _fact_,
I mean--credit and honour to his courage and his gallant conduct than
the mere words could.
"Theo. D. Cochrane,
"Late Second Lieutenant Regiment of Voltigeurs.
"Columbia, Pa., May 20, 1849."
"Cleveland, O., June, 1849.
"Captain Mayne Reid,
"Dear Sir,
"Very much surprised was I yesterday, when Mr Grey, of the
_Plain-dealer_, honoured me with a call, and communicated to me some
lines of your letter to him, wherein it is stated that you had sent me
about fourteen days ago a letter, with inclosure to Upman. I never have
received your letter, and can obtain no information at the post office
about it. Nevertheless will I testify to what I have seen of your
military bravery and valour at Chapultepec--the only place where I have
personally observed your gallant conduct.
"When our regiment--Fifteenth Infantry--had charged through the cypress
trees on the foot of the Chapultepec Hill, and after our skirmishers had
taken the first redan, and chased the Mexicans out of it, I saw a young
officer on my right hand side collecting about thirty or forty men of
different corps, and encouraging the same with an address, which the
roaring of the cannon and the musketry hindered me from understanding.
Shortly after I saw the little band of heroes, with their brave leader
in front, charge the right side battery, where a howitzer was posted;
and they tried very hard to climb the mud walls, which were about twenty
feet high. Soon after I perceived through the dense smoke, caused by
the last discharge of the battery towards that small command, that the
officer had scaled the wall and fell, what I then took for dead.
"All this was done in half the time I take to write it, and I was too
much occupied with the command of my own detachment to enter into more
particulars of that deciding moment. My earnest admiration was paid to
the dead hero; and onward we went to the left corner of the
fortification. How we entered the Castle, and what great excitement
prevailed in the first half-hour of that glorious victory, is too well
known for further description. But one thing I must add, that my first
inquiry after the abating of the excitement was, `Who was that young
officer leading the charge on our right?' and one of my men gave me the
answer: `It is a New Yorker by the name of Mayne Reid--a hell of a
fellow.' That name I had heard several times before very favourably
mentioned, without being personally acquainted with the man; and just as
I was going to see if he was really dead, or wounded, General
Cadwallader addressed the troops from the window of the Castle, and gave
orders to rally the different companies and be prepared for further
orders. I had to stay with my company, of course, and could not satisfy
my great desire to ascertain the fate of that brave young man. One
thing more I wish to say, namely, that this same brave conduct of yours
helped on the left a great deal, because it turned the fire of the
infantry in our front and gave us time to storm the walls the right
moment.
"Yours most respectfully,
"Charles Peternell,
"Captain Fifteenth Infantry."
Donn Piatt received the following statement, made on affidavit by
Lieutenant Marshall, of the Fifteenth Infantry:
"I was in command of our company ordered to the attack of Chapultepec
(Captain King being indisposed), and had approached, under cover of
trees and rocks, to the brow of the hill upon which the Castle stands,
where we halted to await the coming of the scaling ladders. At this
point the fire from the Castle was so continuous and fatal that the men
faltered, and several officers were wounded while urging them on. At
this moment I noticed Lieutenant Reid, of the New York Volunteers. I
noticed him more particularly at the time on account of the very
brilliant uniform he wore.
"He suddenly jumped to his feet, calling upon those around to follow,
and without looking back to see whether he was sustained or not, pushed
on almost alone to the very walls, where he fell badly wounded. All the
officers who saw or knew of the act pronounced it, without exception,
the bravest and most brilliant achievement performed by a single
individual during the campaign; and at the time we determined, should
occasion ever require it, to do him justice. I am satisfied that his
daring was the cause of our taking the Castle as we did. Nor was it an
act of blind courage, but one of cool self-possession in the midst of
imminent danger. Lieutenant Reid had observed from the sound that the
Castle was poorly supplied with side guns, and knew that could he once
get his men to charge up to the walls they would be almost upon equal
footing with the defenders. What makes this achievement more
remarkable, Lieutenant Reid was not ordered to attack, but volunteered."
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He also received letters from Captain D.J. Sutherland, of the United
States Marines, and Captain D. Upman, of the United States Infantry, to
the same effect.
The chief honours of the assault on the Castle at Chapultepec were
undoubtedly his.