proved not less interesting. The effect of the insurrection upon the
progress of the war, as we shall presently see, was notable, and in
substance it produced a counter-revolution in domestic politics.
As Farías was no more willing to resign than to compromise, some
disposition of him seemed necessary, for Santa Anna would evidently
have to take the field again shortly, and it would not have been
expedient, whatever the rights of the case, to let the executive
power fall back into his control. It was therefore decided to abolish
the Vice Presidency; and in this way fell on April Fool's Day the
noblest but most unpopular man in the country.[21.19] At the positive
dictation of Santa Anna General P. M. Anaya, a Moderado, was then
elected substitute president, while the raging Puros raged in vain. The
clergy succeeded, by offering two millions of real money, in persuading
Santa Anna to annul the laws of January 11 and February 4; but the
day before he did this, Church property worth twenty millions was
placed by Congress--theoretically, at least--within the reach of the
government.[21.20]
Not many weeks before this, _Don Simplicio_ had announced, "There
will be presented an original tragi-comedy entitled 'All is a farce
in our beloved Mexico,'" and now J. F. Ramírez, who had been minister
of relations when the hated law passed, exclaimed in bitterness of
heart: All of us, without an exception, have been acting in a way to
deserve the contempt and chastisement of cultivated nations; "we are
nothing, absolutely nothing, with the aggravating circumstance that our
insensate vanity makes us believe that we are everything."[21.20]
XXII
VERA CRUZ
February-March, 1847
On the twenty-first of February, General Scott, who had sailed from
Tampico in a storm the day before, observed in the distance what seemed
to be greenish bubbles floating on the sea. These were the Lobos
Islands, and presently he found there on transports the First and
Second Pennsylvania, the South Carolina, and parts of the Louisiana,
Mississippi and New York regiments of new volunteers. Within a week
many more troops, including nearly all the regulars of the expedition,
arrived from Tampico or the Brazos, and the natural break-water that
protected the anchorage--a sandy coral island of about one hundred
acres, fringed with surf, covered with bushes and small trees woven
together with vines, and scented by the blossoms of wild oranges,
lemons and limes--veiled itself behind the spars and cordage of nearly
a hundred vessels.[22.3]
Judicious measures prevented the smallpox from spreading. Drilling
began; and the drum, fife and bugle aroused a fighting spirit, while
visiting, social jollity and military discussion tended to create an
army solidarity. In the evening bands played martial airs, and the
watch fires on the coast gave an additional sharpness to the ardor
of the soldiers. Meanwhile the General, who still expected vigorous
opposition to his landing, waited impatiently for more surf-boats and
heavy ordnance, looked anxiously for the ten large transports[22.1]
in ballast requisitioned by him in November, elaborated his plans for
disembarking, and issued the corresponding orders.[22.3]
The next rendezvous was to be off Antón Lizardo, about a dozen miles
beyond Vera Cruz and some two hundred more from the Lobos anchorage,
where islands, reefs and the shore of the mainland combined to form
a deep and capacious harbor; and about noon on the second of March
the steamer _Massachusetts_ plowed through the fleet, dashing the
spray from her bows, and set off in that direction. A blue flag with a
red centre waving at her main-truck indicated that Scott was aboard,
and when the noble figure of the commander-in-chief, standing with
uncovered head on the deck, was observed, peal after peal of cheers
resounded from ship to ship. The clanking of anchor chains followed
them; the sailors broke into their hearty songs; the sails filled
gracefully; and the fleet stood away.[22.3]
For two days its progress was not fast, but then a norther set in.
Like a panorama, peak after peak on the lofty sky line passed rapidly
astern; and finally Orizaba, the "mountain of the star," upreared its
head superbly more than three miles above sea level not far inland.
Then came Green Island, where the _Albany_ and _Potomac_ were on hand
to give any needful assistance,[22.2] and the _John Adams_ showed her
black teeth to lurking blockade-runners; while in the distance the
frowning bastions of Ulúa "castle" could be made out, and the sixteen
domes of Vera Cruz appeared to be promenading along her white wall.
Pitching and rolling on the huge billows of inky water, with foam
leaping high over their bows, the transports threaded their way swiftly
between the tumbling and roaring piles of surf that marked the reefs,
and finally, on March 5, the swallow-tail pennant of Commodore Conner
and the flags of the American squadron were seen off Antón Lizardo.
Cheers followed cheers as the transports dropped anchor one after
another; and when the sun went down in a blaze of glory behind Orizaba,
the spirits of the men, stimulated by so many novel, beautiful and
thrilling scenes, by the approach of combat and the expectation of
triumph, reached the very culmination of military enthusiasm. It was a
good beginning--except that Scott arrived a month late, and the yellow
fever usually came on time.[22.3]
[VERA CRUZ]
"Heroic" Vera Cruz, the city of the "True Cross," was in form an
irregular hexagon, with a perimeter some two miles in length, closely
packed with rather high buildings of soft, white-washed masonry.
Although famous as the charnel house of Europeans, it was a rather
pleasant place for those who could endure the climate. The little
alameda, across which many a dandy strutted every day in tight linen
trousers, a close blue jacket, gilt buttons and a red sash, and many a
pretty woman tottered coquettishly in pink slippers, was charming. The
curtained balconies gave one a hint now and then of ladies making their
toilets and smoking their cigarettes just within; and the flat roofs,
equipped with observatories commanding the sea, were delightful resorts
in the cool of the day. Along the water front extended a massive wall,
supplemented at the northern end with Fort Concepción, at the southern
end with Fort Santiago--both of them solidly built--and, between the
two, with a mole of granite some two hundred yards in length. Landward
the defences were feeble, for it had long been assumed that any serious
attack would be made by water; but there were nine well-constructed,
though in most cases not large, bastions, and between them dilapidated
curtains of stone, brick and cement about fifteen feet high and two and
a half or three feet thick.[22.9]
Behind the town extended a plain rather more than half a mile wide;
and beyond that rose hills of light sand--enlarged editions of the
dunes that ran along the shore north and south of Vera Cruz--which
gradually increased in height until some of them, two or three miles
inland, reached an elevation of perhaps three hundred feet. Then
came dense forests, cut here and there by a road and occasionally
diversified with oases of cultivated land, richly scented by tropical
fruits and flowers. To the southwest of the city lay a series of ponds
and marshes, drained by a small stream that passed near the wall; and
this creek, supplemented by cisterns and an underground aqueduct,
provided the town with water. In the opposite direction, on a reef
named the Gallega--distant nearly three quarters of a mile from Fort
Concepción--rose the fortress of Ulúa, built of soft coral stone,
faced with granite, in the most scientific manner, and large enough
to accommodate 2500 men.[22.4] Water batteries lay wherever it seemed
possible to effect a landing, and tremendous walls, enfeebled by no
casemates, towered to a height of about sixty feet.[22.9]
At the beginning of March, 1846, Mora y Villamil, the highest engineer
officer in the Mexican army and at this time comandante general of
Vera Cruz, feared that on account of Slidell's departure the Americans
might suddenly attack him. Aided by Lieutenant Colonel Manuel Robles, a
skilful and active subordinate, he drew up detailed plans for repairing
the crumbling fortifications of the city and castle, and these were
approved by the government; but the lack of money prevented the full
execution of them. In October the captain of a British frigate warned
the new comandante general that an American attack was imminent; and
at about the same time Santa Anna, while bitterly reproaching the
government for its neglect of the town and pointing out what needed
to be done, charged him to make the "strong buildings" a second
and a third line of defence in case of attack, and then perish, if
necessary, under the ruins of the city; but again the want of funds
vetoed adequate preparations. On the other hand, unpaid soldiers paid
themselves by stealing powder and selling it.[22.9]
About the middle of November it was learned at Mexico from a New
Orleans newspaper that an expedition against Vera Cruz had been
projected, and within two months the news was confirmed. Santa Anna
heard of it, and wrote that 6000 militia should be assembled there. He
was told in reply that his demand would be met early in February; and
assurances were given to Congress that everything requisite had been
done.[22.5] By the fourth of March the comandante general, to whom the
information had been transmitted, was inditing urgent appeals for help,
and soon the appearance of Scott showed that a crisis had arrived.
In reliance on the promises of the general government, hopeful and
incessant work on the fortifications now began; but within four days
letters from the war department, conferring unlimited powers upon the
commander, admitted that on account of the Polko insurrection at the
capital no assistance could be given, and many of the people not only
left the city, but endeavored to draw their friends and relatives from
the National Guards.[22.9]
In point of fact military men had long known that Vera Cruz, as
a fortified town standing by itself, was indefensible. General
Mora admitted that it needed stronger exterior works than could be
constructed; and there was no squadron to keep Ulúa supplied with
provisions. The proper course for the comandante general was either
to strip the city of whatever Scott could use, and merely endeavor to
prevent him from advancing farther, as was privately argued by leading
members of Congress, or--for the moral effect of such an example--to
send all non-combatants away, and struggle until crushed; but neither
public sentiment nor the government would have permitted the first of
these plans, and, while the comandante had the second in mind on the
fifth of March, it was too heroic for execution.[22.9]
[Illustration: SAN JUAN DE ULÚA]
[A FIGHTING CHANCE]
Besides, there seemed to be a fighting chance. Ulúa was much stronger
than when the French, aided by fortune, had captured it, and the
anchorage occupied by them could now be shelled. Some of the guns had
been improperly mounted; some of the carriages were old; at some of
the embrasures balls of different calibres were mixed; pieces without
projectiles could be found, and projectiles without pieces; rust had
impaired the fit of many balls; but the city and the fortress together
had probably three hundred serviceable cannon and mortars,[22.6] more
muskets than men, and plenty of ammunition. As an assault was expected,
the streets were defended with cannon and barricades, sand-bags
protected the doors and windows, loopholes without number were made in
the wall, the rather shallow but wet ditch was cleared, and although
barbed cactus made the approach of an enemy to the bastions almost
impossible, thousands of pitfalls--each with a sword, bayonet or short
pike set erect at the bottom--were dug beyond the wall, so arranged
that no one marching straight forward could well avoid them.[22.9]
Juan Soto, the governor of the state, was indefatigable, and as the
state militia numbered about 20,000, it seemed reasonable to count
upon succor. Giffard, the British consul, expected that substantial
help would come from that source. Other states were likely to furnish
aid; and the people, taught by the long inaction of the Americans off
the shore to despise them and encouraged by fictitious reports that
assistance would be rendered by the national government, felt united
and enthusiastic.[22.7] The city council offered all its resources,
and the well-to-do raised funds for a hospital by giving a theatrical
performance. The garrison, led by the brave, active and popular though
not very able Morales, now comandante general, may be estimated as at
least 1200 in Ulúa and 3800 in the city.[22.8] About half of them were
merely National Guards; but these, decorated with tricolored cockades
and red pompons, looked and felt extremely dangerous. "As God lives,"
cried one of their leaders, "either we will triumph, or all of us,
without a solitary exception, will be interred in the ruins." The
civilians remaining in town may have numbered 3000.[22.9]
Bearing in mind the necessity, not merely of taking Vera Cruz and Ulúa,
but of getting his army away from the coast before the advent of yellow
fever, and satisfied that Polk would show him no mercy in case of
ill-success, General Scott examined his problem with all possible care,
and consulted freely the officers he particularly trusted.[22.10] He
could not very prudently have left, say, 5000 men to mask or possibly
reduce Vera Cruz, as some critics insisted he should have done, and
advanced with the rest, for the essential purpose of his expedition was
to capture that place, and such a course might have been viewed by the
government as insubordinate. Besides, that policy would probably have
been regarded by the Mexicans as a sign of weakness; the possession
of the harbor and shipping facilities would evidently aid all further
operations; by holding them it would be possible to deprive the enemy
of war supplies and other necessaries; the arms, ammunition and cannon
of the Mexicans were highly valuable, especially to them; and the
American army would not have been an adequate aggressive force after
thus detaching nearly half its numbers. The obstacle before Scott had,
therefore, to be faced and overcome.[22.13]
The best method, evidently, was to reduce the town before seriously
attacking Ulúa, because that success would greatly diminish the
enemy's fire, make it possible to contract and so strengthen the
American line, and somewhat facilitate the transportation of supplies.
Such had been the General's plan from the first. Officers eager for
distinction recommended an assault, and Scott well knew that a quick,
brilliant stroke would best win him fame and popularity.[22.11] But he
understood equally well that an assault, necessarily made at night,
would entail a heavy loss of his best men--enough, perhaps, to prevent
his advancing farther and escaping the pestilence--besides involving a
great slaughter of both combatants and non-combatants in the town. On
the other hand, as the British consul and the British naval commander
agreed, there was not enough time before the yellow fever season to
warrant relying upon starvation alone.[22.12] Siege and bombardment
were therefore indicated, and Scott promptly decided upon that plan as
combining, better than any other, humanity with effectiveness.[22.13]
[THE DEBARKATION]
The initial step was to select a point for debarking; and Conner, whom
Scott had requested in December to study this problem, had already
fixed upon the beach of Mocambo Bay, two and a half or three miles
southeast of Vera Cruz, which was somewhat sheltered from northers and
could be swept by the guns of the fleet. Sacrificios Island, a strip
of sand representing a large reef, was just off shore, too, forming an
anchorage here. Accordingly Scott, with Conner, the principal generals,
Robert E. Lee, P. G. T. Beauregard and other officers, went up in the
little steamer _Petrita_, reconnoitred the spot, and then--probably to
deceive the Mexicans regarding his intentions--ran within a mile and
a half of Ulúa, where he was almost sunk by the gunners.[22.14] His
judgment agreed with the Commodore's, and orders were given to land
on the eighth. But when that morning came, signs of a norther showed
themselves. The glass fell. The heat became stifling. A southerly
wind loaded with moisture blew, and the summit of Orizaba, clad in
the azure hue of the poet, stood sharply forth; hence the orders were
countermanded.[22.17]
[Illustration: SIEGE OF VERA CRUZ GENERAL PLAN]
The signs failed, however, and the extra day was available for the last
preparations. A detailed plan of debarkation had been drawn up and
announced while the army was at Lobos Islands, but certain difficulties
had not been anticipated. The ten large transports in ballast had not
come, and to land from a great number of small vessels at Sacrificios,
where there was little room and foreign warships occupied all the safe
anchorage, appeared imprudent. Conner, therefore, offered to transport
the army on larger, better and more ably handled vessels belonging to
the squadron, and Scott's wise acceptance of the proposal involved
extensive readjustments.[22.17]
These, however, were skilfully arranged, and when the dawn of March
9 announced a perfect day, a scene of the greatest activity began.
Signals fluttered to mastheads. In clarion tones officers issued their
orders. Despatch boats dashed here and there. Sailors and soldiers
roared their favorite airs. Fully half of the 10,000 and more troops
were placed on the frigates _Raritan_ and _Potomac_, and most of the
others on smaller vessels of the squadron. At about eleven o'clock the
order to sail was given. Amid thunderous cheers the _Massachusetts_
plunged through the fleet, and took its place in the lead with Conner's
flagship. A gentle breeze from the southeast filled the sails; and the
war vessels and transports were off. After a smooth voyage they began
to arrive near Sacrificios at about one o'clock, and in close quarters,
but without mishaps or even the least confusion, each dropped anchor
in its allotted space.[22.15] The yards and rigging of the foreign
war vessels were black with men, and ladies, armed with glasses and
parasols, gazed impatiently from the deck of the British packet.[22.17]
Without the loss of a moment three signal flags rose to the main-truck
of the _Massachusetts_, and the work of landing Worth's brigade of
regulars began. The double-shotted cannon of the squadron were brought
to bear on the shore. Seven gunboats drawing eight feet or less formed
a line within good grape range of the beach, and cleared for action.
About sixty-five surf-boats, which had been towed from Antón Lizardo
by steamers, were rowed by naval crews to the vessels carrying
troops--each having a definite assignment--and after receiving from
fifty to eighty soldiers apiece, making up the whole of the brigade,
attached themselves in two long lines to the quarters of the steamer
_Princeton_, which had now anchored about 450 yards from the shore.
This process consumed several hours, and it was hardly ended when a
shell whizzed over them. "Now we shall catch it," thought the soldiers,
for rumors of opposition had been heard, two or three hundred cavalry
could be seen, and artillery was supposed to be lurking behind the
dunes.[22.17]
The flash of a signal gun shot now from the _Massachusetts_; the
surf-boats cut loose, faced the shore abreast in the order of battle,
and struck out for land; and a cheer burst from every American throat.
Great Orizaba cast aside its veil of haze, and stood out against the
setting sun. Not a cloud flecked the sky; not a ripple marred the
burnished water. Ulúa and Vera Cruz thundered loudly, though in vain.
National airs rolled from our squadron. Shells from the gunboats
broke up the Mexican cavalry and searched the dunes. The oars of
the straining sailors flashed. Muskets--not loaded but with fixed
bayonets--glittered. Regimental colors floated at the stern of each
boat. Suddenly one of the boats darted ahead and grounded on a bar
about a hundred yards from the shore. Out leaped Worth; his officers
followed him; and the whole brigade were instantly in the breaking
ground-swell, holding aloft their muskets and cartridge-boxes.[22.17]
Here was the chance of the enemy, for our vessels could not fire
without endangering Americans; but no enemy was to be seen.[22.16] Led
by their color-bearers the regulars quickly splashed ashore, formed
in a moment, charged to the crest of the first dune, planted their
standards and burst into cheers; the men on the ships, tongue-tied for
some time by an excitement and anxiety that made their brains reel,
answered with huzza after huzza till they made the bay "seem peopled
with victorious armies," wrote one of the soldiers, and the strains
of "Star-Spangled Banner" broke from the bands. Less formally, but
rapidly and in order, the boats went back for the troops of Patterson
and Twiggs; and by midnight, without having met with a single accident,
more than 10,000 men, duly guarded by sentries, were eating their
biscuit and pork on the sand or preparing to bivouac.[22.17]
[VERA CRUZ INVESTED]
During the night Mexicans in the rear did some shooting but without
effect, and the process of investment began. Diverting attention from
this by having a gunboat, sheltered about a mile from the city behind
Point Hornos, throw shot and shell into Vera Cruz for a couple of hours
the next forenoon, Scott had Pillow's brigade capture the hill of
Malibrán behind Worth's camp, and push on toward the rear of the city.
Quitman then passed it; Shields passed Quitman, and Twiggs passed him.
Wallowing up and down the slopes of deep sand in a sultry heat without
water to drink proved to be extremely hard work; and breaking through
the valleys, where a matted growth of chaparral--armed with thorns as
keen as needles and stiff as bayonets--resisted everything but sharp
steel, was harder yet. Day and night Mexican irregulars, both infantry
and horse, and cannon salutes from the city and the castle embarrassed
operations, and there were many brisk skirmishes. Moreover the landing
had scarcely been made when a norther set in, covering the men with
sand, blowing away old hilltops and building up new ones. But not long
after noon on March 13 Twiggs reached the Gulf north of the city. The
next morning a well-supported detachment from each brigade advanced as
far as it could find cover, driving the Mexican outposts before it; and
by night these detachments were only about seven hundred yards from the
town.[22.21]
The American position as a whole, known as Camp Washington, was now a
semi-circular line about seven miles long. There were gaps, but these
were rapidly closed with strong pickets. The railway and the roads were
all occupied; the visible water supply of the city was cut off; and
on March 16 Scott announced that nothing less than a small army could
break through. Meantime, whenever the weather permitted, artillery,
stores, horses and provisions were landed in the most systematic
manner. Safeguards were issued to the representatives of foreign powers
at Vera Cruz, and in a letter of March 13 to the Spanish consul[22.18]
Scott indicated plainly that "bombardment or cannonade, or assault, or
all" of these might be expected by the citizens.[22.21]
The time to plant artillery had now arrived, and the ideal spot
was found on the sixteenth; but after a battery had been laid out
there, access to it proved to be dangerously exposed. Two days later,
however, a fairly good point was discovered, near the cemetery and
Worth's position, about half a mile south of the town, which screened
it somewhat from the castle; and preparations to establish two mortar
batteries there, about one hundred yards apart, began the following
night. At the same time a deep road, wide enough to admit a six-mule
team, was under construction.[22.21]
[Illustration: SIEGE OF VERA CRUZ AMERICAN BATTERIES]