THE RETREAT.
After this frankly expressed opinion there was a rather lengthened
silence, and the Colonel was the first to resume the conversation.
"General," he went on, "you evidently know nothing of the events that
have occurred during the last four and twenty hours."
"How could I know anything? These demons of insurgents have organised
Guerillas, who hold the country and so thoroughly intercept the
communications, that out of twenty spies I have sent out, not one has
returned."
"And not one will return, be assured."
"What is to be done, then?"
"Do you really wish for my advice, General?"
"On my honour, I desire to know your real opinion; for you are the only
one among us, I fancy, who really knows what is going on."
"I am aware of it. Listen to me, then, and do not feel astonished at
anything you may hear, for all is positively true. The information I am
about to have the honour of communicating to you was given me, by the
Jaguar himself, scarce three hours back, at the Salto del Frayle,
whither he invited me to come to converse about some matters in no way
connected with politics."
"Very good," the General remarked, with a slight smile. "Go on, I am
listening to you with the deepest attention."
The Colonel felt himself blush under his chief's slightly ironical
smile; still he recovered himself, and continued--
"In two words, this is our position: while a few bold men, aided by a
privateer brig under the American flag, carried by surprise the
_Libertad_--"
"One of the finest ships in our navy!" the General interrupted, with a
sigh.
"Yes, General, but unhappily it is now an accomplished fact. While this
was taking place, other insurgents, commanded by the Jaguar in person,
got into the Fort of the Point, and carried it almost without a blow."
"But what you tell me is impossible!" the old soldier interrupted with a
burst of passion.
"I tell you nothing that is not rigorously true, General."
"The vague rumours that have reached me, led me to suppose that the
insurgents had dealt us a fresh blow but I was far from suspecting such
a frightful catastrophe."
"I swear to you, on my honour, as, a soldier, General, that I only tell
you the most rigid truth:"
"I believe you, my friend, for I know how brave and worthy of confidence
you are. Still, the news you give me is so frightful, that, in spite of
myself, I should like to be able to doubt it."
"Unhappily, that is impossible."
The General, suffering from a fury which was the more terrible as it was
concentrated, walked up and down the room, clenching his fists, and
muttering broken sentences. The Colonel looked after him sadly, not
dreaming of offering him any of those conventional consolations which,
far from offering any relief to pain, only render it sharper and more
poignant. At the end of some minutes, the General succeeded so far in
mastering his emotion as to draw back to his heart the annoyance he
felt. He sat down again by the Colonel's side, and took his hand kindly.
"You have not yet given me your advice," he said with a ghost of a
smile.
"If you really insist on my speaking, I will do so, General," the young
man answered, "though I am convinced beforehand that our ideas are
absolutely similar on this question."
"That is probable. Still, my dear Colonel, the opinion of a man of your
merits is always precious, and I should be curious to know if I really
agree with you."
"Be it so, General. This is what I think: we have but insufficient
forces to sustain an assault effectively. The town is very badly
disposed toward us: I am convinced that it only wants an opportunity to
rise and make common cause with the insurgents. On the other hand, it
would be a signal act of folly to shut ourselves up in a town with an
issue, where we should be forced to surrender--an indelible stain for
the Mexican army. For the present, we have no succour to expect from the
government of Mexico, which is too much engaged in defending itself
against the ambitious men of every description who hold it continually
in check, to dream of coming effectively to our assistance, either by
sending us reinforcements, or carrying out a diversion in our favour."
"What you say is unfortunately only too true; we are reduced to reckon
on ourselves alone."
"Now, if we obstinately shut ourselves up in the town, it is evident to
me that we shall be compelled eventually to surrender. As the insurgents
are masters of the sea, it is a mere question of time. On the other
hand, if we quit it of our free will, the position will be singularly
simplified."
"But, in that case, we shall be compelled to treat with these
scoundrels?"
"I thought so for an instant; but I believe we can easily avoid that
misfortune."
"In what way? speak, speak, my friend."
"The flag of truce the insurgents send you, will not arrive at the
cabildo till nine in the morning; what prevents you, General,
evacuating the town, ere he makes his appearance?"
"Hum!" said the General, growing more and more attentive to the young
man's remarks. "Then you propose flight to me?"
"Not at all," the Colonel retorted; "remember, General, that the
position is admitted, that in war, recoiling is not flying. If we render
ourselves masters of the country by leaving the town to the insurgents,
by this skilful retreat we place them in the difficult position in which
we are today. In the open plains, and through our discipline, we shall
be enabled to hold our own against a force four times our strength,
which would not be possible here; then, when we have obtained those
reinforcements Santa Anna will probably himself bring us ere long, we
will re-enter Galveston, which the insurgents will not attempt to defend
against us. Such is my opinion, General, and the plan I should adopt,
had I the honour to be Governor of this State."
"Yes," the General answered, "the advice you offer would have some
chance of success, were it possible to follow it. Unluckily, it would be
madness to reckon on Santa Anna's support: he would allow us to be
crushed, not perhaps of his own will, but compelled by circumstances,
and impeded by the constant obstacles the Senate creates for him."
"I cannot share your opinion on that point, General; be well assured
that the Senate, ill-disposed though it may be to the President of the
Republic, is no more desirous to lose Texas than he is. Besides, under
the present circumstances, we must make a virtue of necessity; it would
be great madness for us to await here the enemy's attack."
The General seemed to hesitate for some minutes, then, suddenly forming
a determination, he rang a bell. An aide-de-camp appeared.
"Let all the general officers assemble here within half an hour," he
said. "Begone."
The aide-de-camp bowed, and left the room.
"You wish it," the General continued, turning to the Colonel; "well, be
it so. I consent to follow your advice. Besides, it is, perhaps, the
only chance of safety left us at this moment."
In Europe, where we are accustomed to see great masses of men come in
contact on the field of battle, it would cause a smile to hear the name
of army given to what, among us, would not even be a regiment. But we
must bear in mind that the new world, excepting North America, is very
sparely populated; the inhabitants are scattered over immense districts,
and the most imposing regular forces rarely attain the number of five or
six thousand men. An army is usually composed of fifteen to eighteen
hundred troops, all told, infantry, cavalry, and artillery. And what
soldiers! ignorant, badly paid, badly armed, only half obeying their
Chiefs, whom they know to be as ignorant as themselves, and in whom they
naturally have not the slightest confidence.
In Mexico, the military profession, far from being honoured as it is in
Europe, is, on the contrary, despised, so that the officers and soldiers
are generally blemished men to whom every other career would be closed.
The officers, with a few honourable exceptions, are men ruined by debt
and in reputation, whose ignorance of their profession is so great, that
one of our sergeants could give them lessons. As for the soldiers, they
are only recruited among the leperos, thieves, and assassins. Hence the
army is a real scourge for the country. It is the army that makes and
unmakes the Governments, which succeed each other with perfectly
headlong rapidity in Mexico; for, since its pretended emancipation, this
unhappy country has witnessed nearly three hundred pronunciamentos, all
organised in the army, and carried through for the benefit of the
officers, whose only object is to be promoted.
Still, what we say is not absolute. We have known several Mexican
officers, highly educated and honourable men; unluckily their number is
so limited, that they are impotent to remedy the evil, and are
constrained to put up with what they cannot prevent. General Rubio was
undeniably one of the most honourable officers in the Mexican army.
Still, we have seen that he did not hesitate to plunder the very persons
whom his duty obliged him to protect against all annoyance. My readers
can judge by this example, selected from a thousand, what tricks the
other Generals play.
The corps d'armée placed under the command of General Rubio, and shut up
with him in Galveston, only amounted to nine hundred and fifty officers
and men, to whom might be found at a given signal some three hundred
lanceros scattered in little posts of observation along the coast.
Though incapable of effectually defending the town, this force, well
directed, might hold in check for a long time the worse armed, and
certainly worse disciplined insurgents.
The General had rapidly seen the value of the Colonel's advice. The plan
the latter proposed was, in truth, the only practicable one, and hence
he accepted it at once. Still, it was necessary to act with vigour; the
sun was rising, and the coming day was Sunday; hence it was important
that the army should have evacuated the town before the end of mass,
that is to say, eleven in the morning, for the following reason:
In all the slave states, and especially in Texas, a strange custom
exists, reminding us distantly of the Lupercalia of ancient Rome. On a
Sunday masters grant their slaves entire liberty; one day in seven is
certainly not much; but it is a great deal for the Southern States,
where slavery is so sternly and strictly established. These poor slaves,
who seek compensation for six days of hard servitude, enjoy with
childish delight their few holiday hours: not caring a whit for the
torrid heat that transforms the streets into perfect ovens, they spread
over the town singing, dancing, or galloping at full speed in carts
belonging to their masters which they have appropriated. On this day the
town belongs to them, they behave almost as they please, no one
interfering or trying to check their frolic.
General Rubio rightly feared lest the merchants of Galveston, whom he
had so cleverly compelled to disgorge, might try to take their revenge
by exciting the slaves to mutiny against the Mexicans, and they would
probably be ready enough to do so, delighted at finding a pretext for
disorder, without troubling themselves further as to the more or less
grave results of their mutiny. Hence, while his aide-de-camp performed
the commission he had entrusted to him, General Rubio ordered Colonel
Melendez to take with him all the soldiers on duty at the Cabildo, place
himself at their head, and seize the requisite number of boats for the
transport of the troops to the main land.
This order was not difficult to execute. The Colonel, without losing a
moment, went to the port, and not experiencing the slightest opposition
from the captains and masters of the vessels, who were well aware,
besides, that a refusal would not be listened to, assembled a flotilla
of fifteen light vessels, amply sufficient for the transport of the
garrison. In the meanwhile, the aide-de-camp had performed his duties
with intelligence and celerity, so that within twenty minutes all the
Mexican officers were collected at the General's house.
The latter, without losing a moment, explained to them in a voice that
admitted of no reply, the position in which the capture of the fort
placed the garrison, the necessity of not letting the communication with
the mainland be cut off, and his intention of evacuating the town with
the least possible delay. The officers, as the General expected, were
unanimous in applauding his resolution, for in their hearts they were
not at all anxious to sustain a siege in which only hard blows could be
received. Taking the field pleased them, on the contrary, for many
reasons: in the first place, the pillage of the estancias and the
haciendas offered them great profits, and then they had a hope of taking
a brilliant revenge on the insurgents for the numerous defeats the
latter had inflicted on them since they had been immured in the town.
Orders were therefore immediately given by the General to march the
troops down to the quay with arms and baggage; still, in order to avoid
any cause for disorder, the movement was executed very slowly, and the
Colonel, who presided over the embarkation, was careful to establish
numerous posts at the entrance of each street leading to the port, so
that the populace were kept away from the soldiers, and no disputes were
possible between them. So soon as one boat had its complement of troops
on board it pushed off, though it did not start, as the General wished
the entire flotilla to leave the town together.
It was a magnificent day, the sun dazzled, and the bay sparkled like a
burning-glass. The people, kept at a distance by the bayonets of the
soldiers, watched in gloomy silence the embarkation of the troops.
Alarmed by this movement, which they did not at all understand, and were
so far from suspecting the departure of the Mexican garrison, that they
supposed, on the contrary, that the General was proceeding with a
portion of his troops to make an expedition against the insurgents.
When all the soldiers, with the exception of those intended to protect
the retreat of their comrades, had embarked, the General sent for the
alcade mayor, the Juez de letras, and the corregidor. These magistrates
came to the General, concealing, but poorly, under a feigned eagerness,
the secret alarm caused them by the order they had just received. In
spite of the rapidity with which the troops effected their embarkation,
it was by this time nearly nine o'clock. At the moment when the General
was preparing to address the magistrates whom he had so unexpectedly
convened, Colonel Melendez entered the cabildo, and after bowing
respectfully to the Governor, said--
"General, the person to whom I had the honour of referring last night is
awaiting your good pleasure."
"Ah! Ah!" the General replied, biting his moustache with an ironical
air, "Is he there, then?"
"Yes, General; I have promised to act as his introducer to your
Excellency."
"Very good. Request the person to enter."
"What!" the Colonel exclaimed, in surprise, "Does your Excellency intend
to confer with him in the presence of witnesses?"
"Certainly, and I regret there are not more here. Bring in the person,
my dear Colonel."
"Has your Excellency carefully reflected on the order you have done me
the honour to give me?"
"Hang it! I should think so. I am sure you will be satisfied with what I
am about to do."
"As you insist, General," the Colonel said with marked hesitation, "I
can only obey."
"Yes, yes, my friend, obey; do not be uneasy, I tell you."
The Colonel withdrew without any further remark, and in a few moments
returned, bringing John Davis with him. The American had changed his
dress for one more appropriate to the circumstances. His demeanour was
grave, and step haughty, though not arrogant. On entering the room he
bowed to the General courteously, and prepared to address him. General
Rubio returned his bow with equal courtesy, but stopped him by a sign.
"Pardon me, sir," he said to him, "be kind enough to excuse me for a few
moments. Perhaps, after listening to what I shall have the honour of
saying to these Caballeros, you will consider your mission to me as
finished."
The American made no further reply than a bow, and waited.
"Señores," the General then said, addressing the magistrates, "orders I
have this moment received compel me to leave the town at once with the
troops I have the honour to command. During my absence I entrust the
direction of affairs to you, feeling convinced that you will act in all
things prudently and for the common welfare. Still, you must be cautious
not to let yourselves be influenced by evil counsels, or led by certain
passions to which I will not allude now, particularly here. On my
return, which will not be long delayed, I shall ask of you a strict
account of your acts during my absence. Weigh my words carefully, and be
assured that nothing you may do will be concealed from me."
"Then, General," the Alcade said, "that is the motive of the movement of
the troops we have witnessed this morning. Do you really intend to
depart?"
"You have heard me, Señor."
"Yes, I have heard you, General; but in my turn, in my capacity as
magistrate, I will ask you by what right you, the military governor of
the state, leave one of its principal ports to its own resources in the
present critical state of affairs, when the revolution is before our
gates, and make not the slightest attempt to defend us? Is it really
acting as defenders of this hapless town thus to withdraw, leaving it,
after your departure, a prey to that anarchy which, as you are aware,
only the presence of your forces has hitherto prevented breaking out?
The burden you wish to lay upon us, General, we decline to accept; we
will not assume the responsibility of so heavy a task; we cannot bear
the penalty of another person's faults. The last Mexican soldier will
scarcely have left the town, ere we shall have handed in our
resignations, not being at all desirous to sacrifice ourselves for a
government whose conduct toward us is stamped with egotism and
cold-blooded cruelty. That is what I have to say to you in my name and
in that of my colleagues. Now, in your turn, you will act as you think
proper, but you are warned that you can in no way reckon upon us."
"Ah, ah, Señores!" the General exclaimed, with an angry frown, "Is that
the way you venture to act? Take care, I have not gone yet; I am still
master of Galveston, and can institute a severe example before my
departure."
"Do so, General, we will undergo without a murmur any punishment you may
please to inflict on us, even were it death."
"Very good," the General replied, in a voice quivering with passion; "as
it is so, I leave you free to act, according to circumstances. But you
will have a severe account to render to me, and that perhaps shortly."
"Not we, Excellency, for your departure will be the signal of our
resignation."
"Then you have made up your mind to plunge the country into anarchy?"
"What can we do? What means have we to prevent it? No, no, General, we
are not the persons who deserve reproach."
General Rubio in his heart felt the logic of this reasoning; he saw
perfectly well how egotistic and cruel his conduct was toward the
townsmen, whom he thus surrendered, without any means of defence, to the
fury of the popular passion. Unfortunately, the position was no longer
tenable--the town could not be defended, hence he must depart, without
answering the decade; for what reply could he have made him? The General
gave his aides-de-camp a sign to follow him, and prepared to leave the
cabildo.
"Pardon me for detaining you for a moment, General," John Davis said:
"but I should have liked to have a short conversation with your
Excellency, prior to your departure."
"For what good object, sir?" the General answered, sharply; "did you not
hear what was said in this room? Return to those who sent you, and
report to them what you have seen, that will be sufficient."
"Still, General," he urged, "I should have desired--"
"What?" the General interrupted, and then added, ironically, "To make me
proposals, I presume, on the part of the insurgents. Know, sir, that
whatever may happen, I will never consent to treat with rebels. Thank
Colonel Melendez, who was kind enough to introduce you to my presence.
Had it not been for his intervention I should have had you hung as a
traitor to your country. Begone!--or stay!" he added, on reflection; "I
will not leave you here after I am gone. Seize this man!"
"General, take care," the American replied. "I am intrusted with a
mission; arresting me is a violation of the law of nations."
"Nonsense, sir," the General continued, with a shrug of his shoulders,
"why, you must be mad? Do I recognize the right of the persons from whom
you come to send me a flag of truce? Do I know who you are? Viva Dios!
In what age are we living, then, that rebels dare to treat on equal
terms with the government against which they have revolted? You are my
prisoner, sir! But be at your ease I have no intention of ill-treating
you, or retaining you any length of time. You will accompany us to the
mainland, that is all. When we have arrived there you will be free to go
wherever you please; so you see, sir, that those Mexicans, whom you
like to represent in such dark colours, are not quite so ferocious as
you would have them supposed."
"We have always rendered justice to your heart and loyalty, General."
"I care very little for the opinion you and yours have of me. Come on,
sir."
"I protest, General, against this illegal arrest."
"Protest as much as you please, sir, but follow me!"
As resistance would have been madness, Davis obeyed.
"Well," he said, with a laugh, "I follow you, General. After all, I have
not much cause to complain, for everything is fair in war."
They went out. In spite of the dazzling brilliancy of the sun, whose
beams spread a tropical heat through the town, the entire population
encumbered the streets and squares. The multitude was silent, however;
it witnessed with calm stoicism the departure of the Mexican army; not
an effort was attempted by the people to break the cordon of sentries
drawn up on the fort. When the General appeared, the crowd made way
respectfully to let him pass, and many persons saluted him.
The inhabitants of Galveston detested the Mexican Government; but they
did justice to the Governor, whose honest and moderate administration
had effectually protected them during the whole time he remained among
them, instead of taking advantage of his authority to plunder and
tyrannize over them. They saw with pleasure the departure of the troops,
with sorrow that of the General. The old soldier advanced with a calm
step, talking loudly with his officers, and courteously returning the
bows he received, with smiling face and assured demeanour. He reached
the port in a few minutes, and at his order the last soldiers embarked.
The General, with no other weapon but his sword, remained for some
minutes almost alone in the midst of the crowd that followed him to the
quay. Two aides-de-camp alone accompanied him. John Davis had already
entered a boat, which took him on board the schooner, in which the
General himself intended to cross.
"General," one of the aides-de-camp said, "all the troops have embarked,
and we are now only waiting your Excellency's pleasure."
"Very good, Captain," he answered. He then turned to the magistrates,
who had walked by his side from the cabildo. "Farewell, señores," he
said, taking off his hat, whose white plumes swept the ground,
"farewell, till we meet again. I pray Heaven, from my heart, that,
during my short absence, you will be enabled to avoid the scenes of
disorder and anarchy which the effervescence of parties too often
occasions. We shall meet again sooner than you may possibly suppose.
Long live Mexico!"
"Long live Mexico!" the two officers shouted.
The crowd remained dumb; not a man took up the General's shout. He shook
his head sadly, bowed for the last time, and went down into the boat
waiting for him. Two minutes later the Mexican flotilla had left
Galveston.
"When shall we return?" the General muttered, sadly, with eyes fixed on
the town, whose buildings were slowly disappearing from sight.
"Never!" John Davis whispered in his ear; and this prophetic voice
affected the old soldier to the depth of his heart, and filled it with
bitterness.