has been known perhaps, and nothing imagined save the witches' caldron.
One public man estimated the number of bubbling intrigues as twenty
millions. Nothing is left us except vanity and dissension, but those
we possess in the superlative degree, wrote Ramírez. Congress had no
prestige, no power, no capacity; and its factions could see nothing
except opportunities to stab one another. Santa Anna's breach of faith
intensified the distrust and hatred of the Moderados without gratifying
the Puros. Hoping to win some popularity, he restored the freedom of
the press, which had recently been curtailed; but his enemies merely
took advantage of it. "The man of La Angostura, of Cerro Gordo, of
Amozoc, weary of destroying Mexicans on the field of battle, comes
home tranquilly to find repose in the Presidential chair," exclaimed
Almonte's organ.[25.6]
A plausible and eloquent manifesto put out over Santa Anna's name
dropped cold on the pavement. No basis of popular or political strength
for even a temporary footing could be discovered by his counsellors.
Santa Anna himself felt staggered by the opposition. His only chance
was to place the nation between the devil and the deep sea--between
bayonets and chaos--hoping it would again call upon him to save it; and
so on the twenty-eighth, declaring that schemers and revolutionists,
who found him in their way, paralyzed his efforts to serve the country,
he made another sacrifice, and resigned the Presidency.[25.6]
Unhappily for him it soon appeared likely that Congress would accept
the sacrifice, while on the other hand certain aspects of his outlook
brightened. Busy Tornel induced a fraction of the Puros, who realized
their helplessness, to adopt his cause. Valencia, though much to Santa
Anna's repugnance, had been given for his present portion the chief
command at San Luis Potosí, and so disappeared from the capital.
Almonte found himself in prison under a charge of conspiracy. Arista
and Ampudia were banished from the vicinity. Bravo retired from his
command. At the same time promotions fell copiously on devotees; and
the happy recipients knew these might well cease to be valid, should
their patron fall. Almonte was said to have received a majority of
the votes for President, while Santa Anna had been supported by only
Chihuahua; but so much territory lay in American hands that a question
about the legality of the election arose, and Congress deferred the
matter. On the second of June, therefore, the arch-prestidigitator laid
himself once more upon the altar, and in order to save the country from
Scott and anarchy withdrew his resignation.[25.6]
"Mexicans, I shall be with you always--to the consummation of your
ruin," so the _Monitor Republicano_ paraphrased his announcement; and
then it added: "What a life of sacrifice is the General's; a sacrifice
to take the power, to resign, to resume; ultimate sacrifice; ultimate
final; ultimate more final; ultimate most final; ultimate the very
finalest. But let him cheer up. He is not alone in making sacrifices.
For twenty-five years the Mexican people have been sacrificing
themselves, all of them, in the hope that certain persons would do good
to the country." But in spite of sarcasm and ridicule Santa Anna had
triumphed. Hated by many, disliked by most, distrusted by nearly all,
yet forging ahead because he was on the ground with troops, because his
combination of good luck, audacity and cunning could not be matched,
because the Moderado government had proved incompetent, because a
régime of dissension and anarchy could organize no solid opposition
against him, and because a group of selfish interests found in him
a sharp, tough bit of steel to fix at the head of their spear, he
triumphed once more.[25.6]
[SANTA ANNA STILL SUPREME]
The victory threatened, however, to be fatal. In every direction
lurked pitfalls charged with gunpowder. In all the history of Mexico
dissensions had never been more bitter, nor political and social
chaos nearer. Congress annoyed him until at length, by failing week
after week to form a quorum lest one faction or another should
score an advantage, it fell into abeyance and left him virtually a
dictator.[25.7] In the hope of obtaining funds from the Church, he gave
deeper offence than ever to the most prominent of the Moderados; but
the prelates, in alliance with leading monarchists, continued to plot
against him. Newspapers waged a bitter campaign until choked with an
iron hand. His persecution of the generals excited fierce resentment. A
Puro chief, entering the Cabinet and getting a glimpse of his ulterior
aims, resigned in six days.[25.8]
In short the administration had no political creed, and could find no
political support; and the assistance of that indispensable villain,
Tornel, who could be seen stealing to the palace at the hour when
the night-hawk begins to fly, covered it with discredit. Executive
authorities waged almost civil war upon one another. Rumors, not
without some basis, that a formal dictatorship was in view, could not
be stilled; and the general want of confidence in the President's
character and aims rendered the most skilful appeals to patriotism
vain. Only by the utmost exertions could the fragile edifice of
government be kept balanced on the point of the bayonet.[25.8]
Nor was the opposition against Santa Anna confined to his immediate
vicinity. The people of Mexico City had always despised the outlying
states; and not only was this disdain repaid, but the capital, source
of so many political and financial ills experienced by the rest of
the country, was looked upon by a great number of thoughtful men as
hopelessly corrupt--as a diseased part that required amputation. When
restoring the old federal system in August, 1846, in order to satisfy
his democratic allies and win popularity, Santa Anna apparently did
not foresee, as Consul Black did, that after realizing their power
and getting into touch with one another, the states would take a firm
position upon their prerogatives. In addition to such difficulties, it
was commonly felt that military men and the army stood mortally opposed
to democracy and federal institutions, that success in the field might
enable Santa Anna to overthrow this principle and these institutions,
and that a loud cry for patriotism and war, combined with a systematic
withholding of men and supplies, would compel him to fight and ensure
his ruin.[25.8]
By evasions, therefore, or in some cases positive refusals to obey
the commands of the general government, substantially all the states
withheld support, frequently alleging that under the régime of the
new constitution its extraordinary powers, conferred by the law of
April 20, did not exist, and that all National Guards, as well as all
revenues assigned to the states in September, 1846, were independent
of the national authorities. In this opposition Zacatecas naturally
played a leading part, but perhaps Olaguíbel, an impressive, honest and
able man, who had travelled in the United States and Europe and had
filled his library with busts of the leading American statesmen, was
its foremost representative; and the firm support of his constituents,
who felt intensely jealous of Santa Anna, as well as the coöperation
of Gómez Farías, rendered him a formidable person. Balked thus by
constitutional theories that not only flattered local interests and
pride but were noticeably economical, Santa Anna could obtain--aside
from the troops brought by General Juan Alvarez and a few others--very
little assistance outside of the Federal District.[25.8]
That was hard enough, but still greater difficulties lay behind it.
In the far northwest Sonora, Sinaloa and Durango entertained the
idea of uniting as a new republic, and six of the central states were
banded together in a Coalition. This extra-legal, if not illegal,
organization had been called into existence in January, 1847, by the
pronunciamiento of the Mazatlán garrison, which aimed at making Santa
Anna dictator. By the end of May it was in good shape, and had a plan
for troops of its own. Two weeks later the delegates, who made Lagos
their place of meeting, called themselves an Assembly, and were buying
arms; and by the fourth of July they felt bold enough to declare
null a decree of Santa Anna. Of course the ostensible purpose was to
protect independence, nationality and federal institutions; but, as the
correspondence of the state governors reveals, the real aims included
the establishment of a "new pact of alliance," a new confederation,
in which Santa Anna and that Babylon, the city of Mexico, should have
no part. With this Coalition a large number of the Puros naturally
sympathized.[25.8]
[SANTA ANNA PREPARES FOR BATTLE]
In the face of it all, however, the futile strategist of Cerro
Gordo, with a truly superb wilfulness and a more truly pitiful
self-confidence, snatched up once more the bloody dice. Cannon were
brought from distant points, cast by the government from bells and old
ordnance at Chapultepec and elsewhere, or manufactured by contractors.
New muskets, of which foreigners offered to deliver great stocks
at Mexican ports or by way of Guatemala, were purchased; old ones,
appropriated by deserters or stolen during revolutions, were hunted up;
and all citizens were ordered, though perhaps without great results,
to let the government have what arms they owned. Immense quantities
of powder were produced at Morelia, at Guanajuato, at Santa Fe near
Mexico, and at the capital; a great deal was imported overland from
British Honduras, and additional supplies came from New Orleans by the
way of Campeche. At various points mortars, bayonets, projectiles and
numberless other articles were turned out by government establishments
or private contractors. Forges clanged on all sides; and wherever the
President's restless and unscrupulous mind could have its way, there
reigned a feverish activity, cooled only by a want of funds.[25.11]
At Mexico City, before his arrival, some 2000 regulars and 8000
National Guards, besides the officers, were in garrison; and these
with his army, five hundred from Querétaro, some two hundred Irish
deserters, an unknown number of able-bodied loafers impressed at the
capital, and larger or smaller accessions from other sources, made
up the Army of the East. The Army of the South under Juan Alvarez,
who commanded the line to Acapulco with headquarters near Mexico, had
on its roll at the end of June 2748 officers and men; and Canalizo,
comandante general of Puebla, who became reconciled to his chief in
June, was supposed to have a few thousands of National Guards and
irregulars. But as most of these forces were poorly paid and a large
part of them served unwillingly, desertion--in spite of the severest
rules--was common, and the numbers fluctuated incessantly.[25.11]
At San Luis Potosí, meantime, lay the Army of the North, which
contained the largest percentage of veterans. In May Valencia, so
long a rival of the President, had talked in a very lofty style, as
if already the military head of the nation, about marching south
and cutting Worth to pieces, and Santa Anna, though anxious to get
his troops, now wished him to remain at a distance; but in July, on
account of Scott's approaching reinforcements, it seemed necessary to
bring down that army, and it arrived at Guadalupe Hidalgo, a few miles
north of Mexico, on the twenty-seventh, numbering more than 4000 men
with twenty-two guns. Just how many soldiers the President then had
cannot be stated, and in all probability no one could have stated at
the time; but, such as they were, there seem to have been fully 25,000
men and probably, as reports and intercepted letters convinced many
of the Americans, 30,000, if not more.[25.9] Some were well dressed,
well equipped and well trained; but from that pinnacle the army
descended to mere off-scourings, whose rags were as the President said,
"a disgrace to the nation," and whose military efficiency doubtless
corresponded.[25.11]
Of equally varied quality were the officers. The generals best known
to the country were nearly all out of the service now, being under
charges or at odds with the head of the government. Valencia was a
conspirator, a drunkard, a dolt and a volcano. Alvarez, an ignorant
mulatto from the wilds, understood only half-savage, partisan fighting.
Lombardini, a strutting lackey, who commanded the Army of the East
except when Santa Anna took personal charge of it, strove to conceal
behind a swarthy face, a heavy mustache and goatee, and a ceaseless
volubility the poverty of his intellect; and the great mass of the
officers were--well, they had already shown their value. They were now
ordered to be intelligent and brave, to be zealous whether paid or not
paid, to do their full duty and something more, to cast behind them
every thought of accepting parole, and to say nothing against their
superiors; but it lay beyond the power of orders to make them what they
could not be, and the small number of excellent men were lost in the
crowd.[25.11]
[THE MEXICAN PLANS]
Regarding the plan of operations a radical difference of opinion
existed. To not a few the idea that Scott was lying comfortably at
Puebla seemed almost unendurable. They longed to have him attacked
unceasingly; and they insisted that, should the arrogant invader dare
to march for the capital, every step of the route should be contested.
Santa Anna on the other hand still believed in concentration, and
though some regard was paid to the apprehensions of the ayuntamiento,
his views naturally prevailed. The plan adopted, then, after
considerable vacillation in regard to details, was to protect the
entire perimeter of the city with fortifications, inundate more or less
the surrounding meadows, and prevent Scott from seriously injuring
the town with his artillery by erecting a series of works at the most
advantageous points of the environs. These protected lines were to be
held by the less reliable corps--National Guards, for example--and the
troops belonging to the regular army were to be a mobile force ready to
defend the city at any threatened point.[25.11]
The plan was thus essentially defensive, and it has been said with
much force that a system of this kind promises merely negative results
in the case of success, and positive ruin in the case of defeat. But
the present situation was peculiar. Supplied with provisions for no
long period, and without hopes of early and strong reinforcements, the
Americans were bound to fail unless promptly and signally victorious,
and their entering the Valley would then have meant destruction. "Scott
is lost," exclaimed the Duke of Wellington after the Americans crossed
the rim; "He cannot capture the city and he cannot fall back upon
his base." Santa Anna's plan, therefore, did not merit the criticism
bestowed upon it.[25.11]
Besides, Alvarez with nearly all the Mexican horse was to swing in
behind the advancing Americans, cut off their communication with
Puebla, follow, annoy and injure them in every possible way, conceal
his real strength so as to bring out and overwhelm their cavalry,
attack vigorously whenever Scott should become seriously engaged before
Mexican fortifications, and be ready to prevent his retreat. Canalizo
with his thousands was to support Alvarez; and Valencia also, advancing
from Guadalupe Hidalgo to the, village of Texcoco, east of Mexico,
was to coöperate with him, and especially to throw himself with all
his energy into the attack on the American rear or flank, whenever
Scott should assail the outer works. At the same time the people of
the neighboring towns and villages were to swarm about the invader
like hornets, and sting him day and night incessantly. In short the
plan was excellent--only Santa Anna overlooked, as usual, several
possibilities.[25.11]
As soon as he took up the reins of government the construction of
defences had begun, and now, under the technical direction of General
Mora, Manuel Robles and Juan Cano, it was pushed with all the energy
of an intense military despot who stuck at nothing. Villages were
depopulated, haciendas robbed of their laborers, jails emptied, and
the streets cleared of vagabonds. Enforce obedience, the governor of
the District was curtly told when he reported that his orders had no
effect. Sunset no longer promised repose, and the church bells no
longer meant worship. Informed on July 18 that Scott would leave Puebla
on the twenty-first, Santa Anna rose above his exemplar, Napoleon, and
took for model the Creator. Within eight days let all the works be
completed, he decreed. But engineers, laborers, tools, instruments,
timber, provisions, time and cash--much of which was embezzled by high
officers and officials even at this juncture--all fell short, and Santa
Anna's serviceable cannon were not enough to equip even the works
constructed.[25.11]
Certain points, however, became quite formidable, and especially Old
Peñón, a lofty, precipitous hill of rock standing by itself, close
to the Puebla route, seven miles from the city.[25.10] Stockades,
breastworks, parapets and guns bristled on summit and brow; works
at the base and in advance commanded all dangerous approaches; a
trench full of water crossed the road; the meadows in front--cut with
ditches--were inundated; and the swampy edge of Lake Texcoco guarded
the opposite side of the road. To the Mexicans, who always measured
the strength of a chain by its heaviest link, this position seemed a
wonderful protection; and in general the people, if not the city, were
strongly fortified by the President's labors.[25.11]
[THE PEOPLE ENTHUSIASTIC]
For other reasons also the morale of the inhabitants improved.
Characteristic light-heartedness made them turn from past defeats to
future triumphs. They were told that at Cerro Gordo Scott had made his
troops fight by opening a battery upon them from the rear; that his
men, while they presumed to think they could make "vile slaves" of the
generous and valiant Mexicans, were few, sickly, poverty-stricken,
dissatisfied; and that Polk, embarrassed by the expense of the war,
could send him but scanty reinforcements. Greed, brutality and
sanguinary ambition were charged against us at this crisis by the
London _Times_ in its usual contemptuous manner, and the _Diario_
eagerly quoted it. The successes of the guerillas against American
convoys roused a lively enthusiasm. "Only a little, a very little"
effort is necessary to beat the hateful Anglo-Saxon, proclaimed the
government; and a review of the brilliant Eleventh Infantry, headed
by its band of twenty-five pieces, made that little seem easy and
agreeable.[25.11]
People who bore the names of saints as a matter of course easily
exploded Scott's Address of May 11. How absurd, they cried, for
the American general to pretend he is a Christian: there is no St.
Winfield in the calendar! The only hope of the Americans lies in
Mexican dissension, therefore let us disappoint them, it was urged;
and to promote harmony all the newspapers except the official organ
were suspended on plausible grounds. Santa Anna's activity and warlike
spirit had to be recognized by all. We must confide in him and gather
round him like a band of brothers, preached the _Diario_; and when
all political trials were ordered to end, and the President banqueted
at Valencia's house, the fraternal era so long hoped for seemed at
hand.[25.11]
Finally, on the ninth of August, at two o'clock in the afternoon, a
16-pounder boomed portentously from the citadel. The long roll was
beaten. Bands of music patrolled the city. Hands clapped. Vivas echoed
through the streets. Rockets flashed rosettes in the sky. "Blinded by
pride the enemy have set out for the capital," proclaimed Santa Anna;
"For this, Mexicans, I congratulate myself and you." The government,
while savagely and contemptuously scoring the Americans, announced a
series of reforms to be effected by Santa Anna, not as a constitutional
magistrate, but as a Divine Providence; and the _Diario_ echoed back,
"Half a dozen of these measures would change the face of the Republic."
The President assumed command of the army, and every citizen from
sixteen to fifty years of age took his place in the ranks. Amidst the
most fervid enthusiasm of crowds that filled the streets, balconies and
housetops, troops followed troops gaily toward Old Peñón, and two days
later the forces were reviewed there.[25.12]
Tents gleamed under a splendid sun. Bands played as if inspired.
The soldiers marched with a quick, impatient step. Anaya--recently
the chief magistrate, Gorostiza--the primate of Mexico's literary
men, white-haired Herrera--the most honored of her political chiefs,
and countless other dignitaries did honor to the occasion. The rich
vestments of the clergy gave exquisite lustre and color, and their
pompous benedictions added a sense of more than human grandeur. All
were happy, radiant, brotherly. Every thought of peace, every thought
of opposing or even doubting Santa Anna appeared to be forgotten. In
all his previous career so refulgent a day had never been his. "Ecce
Homo!" cried the _Diario_; "Behold the illustrious champion of 1821,
the hero of 1829, the genius of 1838!" For him the hill became a Mount
of Transfiguration. Or rather, perhaps, it was Mt. Sinai, where Deity
appeared in thunders and lightnings. You MUST, was the command
to the governor of Zacatecas this day. Let the state of Mexico send
me her troops, rang the message to Olaguíbel. And Olaguíbel replied
meekly, They shall go to-morrow.[25.12]
[SCOTT'S MARCH TO MEXICO]
Scott was in fact advancing. On the morning of Saturday, the seventh,
his camp was astir early. The base of Popocatepetl seemed black, and
the slopes a pale, silvery blue; but its top, almost 18,000 feet
above the sea, was a "Blazing Star," as some of the Indians named the
mountain, and appeared like an omen of victory. The Second Division was
soon ready. Twiggs faced it, waved his hat round his white head, and
cried in the voice of Ajax, "Now, my lads, give them a Cerro Gordo
shout!" A simultaneous hurrah from twenty-five hundred iron throats
was the response; and at six o'clock, preceded by the cavalry and the
engineer company and followed by the siege train--while his band,
mounted on splendid white horses, played our national airs--he began
the eventful march. One day apart, Quitman, Worth and Pillow followed
him. Though it was announced that no man unable to do three marches
could be permitted to go, hundreds of convalescents unequal to the
effort insisted upon trying, and, gradually falling out, rejoined the
garrison of Puebla. Feeble in numbers[25.13] for such an enterprise,
but confiding in their quality, their leader and their prestige, the
10,738 men and their officers pressed boldly forward.[25.15]
For a time the dust proved extremely annoying and the sun scorched;
but soon mountain air began to be felt, and the troops entered a wide,
blooming and scented valley, full of rich fields, grazing herds, noble
hacienda houses that were almost palaces, and trim white churches
that seemed like stragglers from the great host at Puebla. In the
rear shone Orizaba and the nearer pyramid of Malinchi. On the left
Popocatepetl and his consort, the Sleeping Woman (Iztaccihuatl), deeply
blanketed in fleecy white, looked hardly a stone's throw distant; and
after the sun had set, the air grown cold, and the valley--now less
open--filled with shadows, their purple tops glowed like interplanetary
lighthouses.[25.15]