rigged as a ship. Saunders opened fire, June 8, because he feared
new fortifications (near the mouth of the Pánuco) would make it hard
to capture Tampico. He did little damage. The enemy replied feebly.
Suspecting that the Mexican gunboats intended to sail out and raid
American commerce, he determined to capture them by surprise in
the night of June 14-15. He had no good pilot. The boats had much
difficulty in finding the channel, which had recently shifted, and
were even compelled to row more than half a mile against a swift
current within pistol shot of the shore. One of them grounded twice.
The moon came out. The Americans were discovered and fired upon.
They replied; and then, as a surprise was no longer possible, they
retired according to orders. May 28 Conner, on the _Cumberland_, was
at Pensacola; the _St. Mary's_ off Tampico; the _Mississippi_ and
_Falmouth_ off V. Cruz; the _Raritan_ there or on her way to that port;
the _Lawrence_ (which seems to have been a brig but was not mentioned
in the department's list of vessels under Conner on May 13) assisting
the army; and the _Somers_ on the Yucatan service (Ho. 1; 30, 2, p.
1163). Aug. 10 the _Cumberland_ (still the flag-ship), _Potomac_,
_Falmouth_, _Mississippi_, _Princeton_, _Flirt_ and the three gunboats
(_Bonita_, _Reefer_, _Petrel_) lay at Antón Lizardo; the _St. Mary's_
and _Porpoise_ were off V. Cruz; the _John Adams_ off Tampico; the brig
_Truxtun_ had gone to Chagres, and the brig _Perry_ had gone to look
for privateers near Cape S. Antonio (_Picayune_, Aug. 26). These data
give one an idea of the usual distribution of the vessels.
30.16. _The affair of Aug. 7._ =165=Conner to Bancroft, May 31.
=47=_Id._ to _Id._, Aug. 10. Ho. 4; 29, 2, p. 630 (Conner). _Picayune_,
Aug. 22, 26. N. Y. _Sun_, Dec 7. Sen. 1; 29, 2, p. 381. Semmes,
Service, 88. Parker, Recolls., 66-7. Taylor, Broad Pennant, 287.
=76=Landero, Aug. 10. =76=Comte gen. V. Cruz, July 15. _Esperanza_,
Aug. 27. _Locomotor_, Aug. 10. For Alvarado, vol. ii, p. 344. For Antón
Lizardo, vol. ii, p. 17. The Americans felt the more chagrined because
British naval men witnessed their failure.
30.17. _The Affair of Oct. 15._ =162=Morris to Conner, Sept. 21.
=47=Conner, Oct. 17. =162=_Id._, Oct. 16. United Service, July, 1895,
p. 33. Ho. 4; 29, 2, pp. 630-1. Taylor, Broad Pennant, 290, 293,
298-306. _Picayune_, Nov. 8. Sen. 1; 29, 2, p. 381. Griffis, Perry,
199. Semmes, Service, 88. Conner, Home Squadron, 17. =76=Marin to
comte. gen., Oct. 17. =76=Landero, Sept. 5, 14; Oct. 12. =76=Soto, Oct.
18. =76=Marin to Soto, Oct. 15. _Diario_, Oct. 29, 30. =76=Guerra,
circular, Oct. 21. Wash. _Union_, Nov. 30. London _Times_, Dec. 10.
According to Conner's son (Home Squadron, 17), the secretary of the
navy on Sept. 22 instructed Conner to attack Alvarado, supposing he
had been reinforced, and it has been said that the attack should not
have been made without more strength; but the difficulty was that the
American forces could not be made available. It is not easy to see how
Conner was at fault unless, as perhaps on Aug. 7, he might have landed
in boats under such protection as his cannon could give, stormed the
fort that stood near the beach, and then landed more men. Conner does
not seem to have thought that sailors could do much ashore. He had a
landing-force (Conner, Home Squadron, 15), but whether at this time and
place is not clear. Probably a bold, though unsuccessful, attack would
have been better than to back out. He is said to have argued, after the
failure of Aug. 7, that even success would not have been worth what it
would have cost (_Picayune_, Aug. 26); but this left moral effects out
of the account. It was said by a naval man that he should have added
the McLane's tow to his own and gone ahead; but it seems extremely
doubtful whether he could have advanced against the current. Conner's
report (Oct. 17) says the _Mississippi_ could not get near enough to
make any impression on the fort, but a Mexican account printed in _La
Esperanza_, Aug. 27, stated that some shot from our vessels struck more
than 200 yards behind the fort, and one sees no reason to suppose that
the statement was an invention. Conner seems to have thought of coming
to Alvarado again, for in Jan., 1847, the Mexicans reported that the
bar was being sounded (=76=Landero, Jan. 28). For the capture of the
place at the beginning of April, 1847, see vol. ii, p. 344. Apr. 2 a
naval expedition went up the river, returning on Apr. 4 (=66=J. L.
Mason to J. L. Smith, Apr. 9).
30.18. _The first Tabasco expedition._ (Perry) =46=Perry, Aug. 15, 17;
=165=Conner to P., Oct. 6; Conner, Home Squadron, 12-3. =162=Conner,
Oct. 30. Ho. 1; 30, 2, pp. 1165-70 (Perry's report, etc.). Ho. 4;
29, 2, pp. 632-9. _Diario_, Nov. 7, 1846 (Traconis' reports, etc.).
=47=Perry to Mason, Nov. 16. Taylor, Broad Pennant, 316. =76=Gov. of
Chiapas, Oct. 27. =60=Champlen to Polk, Dec. 4. Semmes, Service, 89.
Conner, Home Squadron, 9. Information given to the author by a Mexican
civil engineer residing in Tabasco. Apuntes, 389-90. =73=Bermúdez de
Castro, no. 445, 1847. Aldrich, Marine Corps, 97. Ho. 4; 29, 2, p. 639.
Sen. 1; 29, 2, p. 381. Parker, Recolls., 73-4. =76=Traconis, Nov. 16.
_Temístocles_, Dec. 31. =76=Santalo's testimony, Nov. 2. =76=Comte.
gen. Tab, Apr. 6. Sen. 1; 30, 1, p. 950. =166=List of vessels captured.
=166=Perry to Conner, Nov. 11. =166=Merchants to Perry, Oct. 26.
=76=Traconis, proclam., Aug. 12. =13=Giffard, Jan. 31, 1847. Meade,
Letters, i, 169.
As Perry was assigned to the _Mississippi_ on Oct. 6, and commanded
this important expedition so soon afterward, it has been supposed
incorrectly that virtually, if not formally, the squadron was divided.
The hope of the United States at the beginning of the war had been that
Tabasco would be neutral. The orders were not to disturb it in that
case (=49=Bancroft to Conner, May 19). Perry's expedition was followed
in Nov. by a revolution in Tabasco based ostensibly on the failure of
the Mexican government to protect the state; but really the outbreak
was due to local rivalries, and probably it caused the national
government no material annoyance (=76=Alcorta, Jan. 4, 1848; México á
través, iv, 599; =13=Bankhead, no. 186, 1846; =76=Acta of garrison,
Nov. 19, 1846; Wash. _Union_, Jan. 18, 1847). Frontera was a valuable
point, for the Americans could obtain water and cattle there and hinder
illicit commerce. The Tabasco River is now called usually the Grijalva.
30.19. For the Tampico and Pánuco expeditions: vol. i, pp. 279, 281.
=162=Mason to Conner, Nov. 29, 1846, priv. and confid. Ho. 1; 30,
2, pp. 1175 (Conner), 1176 (Perry). Semmes, Service, 90. Bennett,
Steam Navy, 93. =47=Conner, Dec. 17. =166=Perry to C., Dec. 27; to
Benham, Dec. 23; to Sands and Parker, Dec. 21. =166=Benham to Perry,
Dec. 22. =166=Parker to Perry, Dec. 22. =166=Conner to Hunt, Feb. 8,
1847. =166=Sands to Conner, Feb. 20. =13=Giffard, Jan. 31, 1847. The
expedition set out on Dec. 17.
Many of the people of Tabasco supposed, when Perry arrived off Frontera
in Dec., that he was going to S. Juan Bautista to avenge his "defeat";
and as he did not, they presumably felt more haughty than ever
(_Temístocles_, Dec. 31).
30.20. _Niles_, Oct. 31, 1846, p. 132. Ho. 60; 30, 1, p. 775.
(Bancroft) Mason to Conner, Oct. 26. Soley, Porter, 59. Farragut,
Farragut, 158, 197. _United Service_, Feb., 1897 (Conner). México á
través, iv, 419. Scott, Mems., ii, 422. N. Y. _Eve. Post_, June 10.
=165=Conner to Bancroft, June 11 (impregnable if properly equipped and
manned). Memoria de ... Guerra, Dec, 1846. Wash. _Union_, June 17.
Diccionario Universal (_Ulúa_). _Journal des Débats_, Aug. 11, 1838.
=162=Morris to Conner, June 10, 24; Oct. 24, 1846. See chap. xviii, p.
349, and note 18.2.
Oct. 3, 1846, the garrison were in a state of mutiny because hungry
(=76=Morales, Oct. 4; S. Anna, Oct. 14), but the Americans did not
know this. Conner suggested that he be given a landing brigade, so
that he could make a combined land and water attack (Conner, S. Juan
de Ulloa, 15). During the siege of Vera Cruz Perry planned to bombard
the fortress and attack it with boats on a dark night in conjunction
with the land forces (Ho. 1; 30, 2, p. 1191). Many original documents
bearing on the construction of Ulúa could be cited, but they would have
only an antiquarian interest. David D. Porter and David G. Farragut
are the men referred to. The eagerness of certain young officers led
to some enterprises that were not altogether felicitous. Contrary
to orders Lieut. Parker burned the _Creole_ (_Criolla_), the last
scrap of Mexican commerce, under the guns of Ulúa at night: but this
injured Hargous, the American merchant, who owned or had chartered her
(=374=Semmes to Conner, Nov. 28; Dec. 6, 1846; =374=Parker to Semmes,
Nov. 27). It has been said that this ended a secret correspondence by
which Conner obtained valuable information (Conner, Home Squadron,
7), but circumstances had probably put a stop to that about six weeks
before (=166=Pommarès to Conner, Oct. 17). A plan was laid to blow
up a Mexican powder magazine near V. Cruz, but this resulted in the
capture of Passed Midshipman R. C. Rogers and another man (=162=Semmes
to Perry, Dec. 6, 1846; =162=Wright to Semmes, Dec. 6; Semmes, Service,
91). For the capture of Vera Cruz and Ulúa see chap. xxii.
30.21. =162=Conner, Sept. 30, 1846. =374=Perry to C., Nov. 24.
=162=Morris to C., Oct. 24. _Picayune_, Jan. 6, 1847. Curtis, Buchanan,
i, 603-4. Griffis, Perry, 210-1, 221. =108=Appleton to Bancroft, Feb.
24; Apr. 27, 1847. Parker, Recolls., 92. Sen. 1; 30, 1, 945 (Mason,
report). =163=Semmes to Conner, Sept. 29, 1850. =165=Conner to Perry,
Mar. 20, 1847. =256=Marcy to Wetmore, Apr. 6, 1847. Conner's reputation
in the navy at the present day is that of a coward--one of the
numberless instances of historical injustice.
30.22. _Capture of Tuxpán._ Ho. 1; 30, 2, pp. 1192-8, 1202 (Perry and
others). Semmes, Service, 150-5. =76=Cos, Jan. 18; Apr. 4, 16, 29.
_Picayune_, Jan. 2. Griffis, Perry, 241. =76=Soto, Aug. 31, 1846.
=76=Cos to ayunt., Apr. 24. Parker, Recolls., 78, 106-7. =76=Proceeds.
of Tuxpán ayunt., Apr. 22. Captain of the port, Apr. 26. _American
Star_ (Jalapa), May 2. Wash. _Union_, May 13, 17; June 4; Sept. 11.
Soley, Porter, 72. _Eagle_ (V. Cruz), Apr. 28. Jones, Tattnall, 64-5.
Perry's force, consisting of the steamers _Mississippi_, _Spitfire_
(a vessel--similar to the _Vixen_--which had joined the squadron in
November), _Vixen_ and _Scourge_, the schooner-gunboats _Reefer_,
_Petrel_ and _Bonita_, the frigate _Raritan_ (carrying 180 officers
and men from the _Potomac_ besides her own complement), the sloops
_Albany_, _John Adams_, _Decatur_ and _Germantown_, the bomb-vessels
_Vesuvius_, _Ætna_ and _Hecla_, and 300 officers and men from the
ship-of-the-line _Ohio_, which stopped at Vera Cruz, on her way to the
Pacific, to assist Scott, who were distributed on the _Mississippi_ and
smaller vessels, gathered first at Lobos Ids., where the forces were
drilled about a day for the attack. Next, after having been separated
by a norther, they met off the bar. The Mexicans were driven a short
distance from the town, but further pursuit into the chaparral would
have been vain. An expedition went some distance up the river from
Tuxpán (Semmes, Service, 154). The city government had not wished Cos
to defend the town, and hence he withdrew all his troops from town
before the attack. Most of his troops soon scattered. The city would
not help support them, but furnished the Americans with supplies
cheerfully. At Perry's request steps were taken to maintain order. He
now left the _Albany_ and _Reefer_ off the river, and sent the _Hecla_
to blockade Soto la Marina, the _Germantown_ to search the coast north
of Lobos Ids., the _Ætna_ to occupy Tabasco River, the _Porpoise_ and
the _Vesuvius_ to hold Laguna. Besides the flotilla mentioned above he
probably had under his command at this time the gunboats _Falcon_ and
_Tampico_ (vol. ii, p. 338; Ho. 1; 30, 2, p. 1182). For the loss of
the _Truxtun_ in Aug., 1846, which led to a great deal of discussion
regarding the conduct of Carpender, her captain, see =162=Conner, Aug.
24; =47=_Id._, Aug 24; =47=Carpender to Conner, Aug. 24; Mason to Polk,
Oct. 28, 1846; Semmes, Service, 82; N. Orl. _Commerc. Bulletin_, Sept.
8; Parker, Recolls., 78; Docs. in Conner papers; comte. gen. V. Cruz,
Aug. 23 and docs.; Taylor, Broad Pennant, 260; Wash. _Union_, Sept. 12,
22; _Nat. Intelligencer_, Sept. 14.
30.23. (Small ports) Ho. 1; 30, 2, pp. 1204-8, 1223, 1228-9;
=76=Buchanan to authorities of Tapantla, May 10, 1847. The main
purposes of taking the small ports were to gather fresh provisions,
exclude contraband trade, and obtain funds under the contributory
tariff (chap. xxxiii). The usual terms required a renunciation of
Mexican allegiance during the war, obedience to American orders, and
the payment of all revenues to the United States.
An indefinite number of citations bearing upon the situation in Yucatan
could be given, but the following are deemed sufficient. Bankhead, no.
11, 1846. _Journal des Débats_, Sept. 13, 1842. _Constitutionnel_,
Nov. 2-3, 1846. Polk, Diary, Aug. 29, 1845; Feb. 27, 1847. Sen. 43;
30, 1. =49=Bancroft to Conner, May 19, 1846. =49=Mason to _Id._, Oct.
16, 1846; Feb. 25, 1847; to Perry, Mar. 17, 1847. Semmes, Service,
84. =335=Tinsley to Trist, Aug. 6, 1846. =335=Robira to _Id._, June
7, 1847. Sen. 40, 42, 43, 45, 49; 30, 1. _Gaceta de Ciudad Victoria_,
Jan. 27, 1846. _Picayune_, Oct. 8, 1846; Jan. 12, 1847. México á
través, iv, 599. Sen. 1; 29, 2, p. 382. Suárez y Navarro, Causas, 6-9.
Richardson, Messages, iv, 581-3. Memoria de ... Relaciones, Dec, 1846.
=76=Barbachano, procl., July 2, 1846. _Temístocles_, Dec. 27, 1846.
=13=Pakenham, no. 33, 1847. Ho. 60; 30, 1, pp. 256-7 (Walker). Wash.
_Union_, Jan. 18, 1847. =366=Declar. of Mérida. =166=Perry to Conner,
Dec. 27, 1846. =166=Conner to Sands, Feb. 8, 1847. =166=McFaul to ----,
Nov. 12, 1847. Buchanan, Works, vii, 222. Ho. 1; 30, 2, pp. 1175-6
(Conner), 1204 (Perry). =165=Gen. orders, Dec. 15, 1846. (May cruise)
=47=Perry, Dec. 27, 1846; Sept. 21, 1847. =47=Conner, Dec. 29. May 15
Laguna port was opened to commerce; May 18 Frontera.
30.24. _Second Tabasco expedition._ Ho. 1; 30, 2, pp. 1207-23, 28-32
(Perry and officers). =47=Perry, June 25. =47=Correspondence of Perry
and Bigelow, July 18-23. Bennett, Steam Navy, 97. Negrete, Invasión,
iii, 153-6. Roa Bárcena, Recuerdos, 526-8. =76=Correspondence of
Bigelow and Echagaray, July 1, 2; letters of E., May 31; June 9, 18,
23; July 5. México á través, iv, 703. (Later) Ho. 1; 30, 2, pp. 1233-6
(Perry); =47=Perry, Aug. 16.
On the way to S. J. Bautista Perry had six men wounded. Many fell from
exhaustion. June 30 on an expedition to Tamulté, about three miles
out, three were killed and eight wounded. The Mexican leaders were Bvt.
Gen. Domingo Echagaray and three Maldonado brothers.
Aug. 16, 1847, the squadron was disposed as follows: (_Raritan_ and
_Albany_ had gone home); _Mississippi_, Pensacola; sloop _Germantown_,
Antón Lizardo, preparing to distribute supplies; sloop _Decatur_,
blockading Tuxpán; sloop _Saratoga_, V. Cruz, maintaining connection
with the army and watching the police; sloop _John Adams_, expected
from Tuxpán probably to join bomb-vessel _Stromboli_ in Goatzacoalcos
River; gunboats _Reefer_ and _Petrel_ at Tampico; gunboat _Falcon_
at Alvarado; steamer _Scourge_, bomb-vessel _Ætna_, gunboat _Bonita_
at Frontera; bomb-vessel _Vesuvius_, gunboat _Mahonese_ at Laguna;
steamers _Vixen_ and _Scorpion_ in reserve; steamers _Spitfire_ and
_Petrita_ laid up with injured engines; bomb-vessel _Hecla_ ashore on
Alvarado bar. Aug. 18, 1847, Perry ordered that all merchant vessels
should be visited on their arrival in port to detect irregularities
(Ho. 60; 30, 1, p. 788).
30.25. For the share of the navy in the conquest of California see
chap. xvii. (Impossible) =13=P. J. Blake of _Juno_, Apr. 10, 1848;
=53=Pakenham to Buchanan, Dec. 14, 1846; =13=_Id._, no. 57, 1846.
(Proclam. and orders) Ho. 4; 29, 2, pp. 670, 673-4. Du Pont, Official
Despatches, 9. (Cancelled, etc.) =53=Pakenham to Buchanan, Dec. 14;
=12=Walker to Seymour, Mar. 26, 1847; =132=Howland & Aspinwall to
Buchanan, Sept. 22, 1847; =13=Pakenham, no. 139, 1846; Sen. 1; 30,
1, p. 1303 (Mason); =48=Mason to Biddle, Mar. 30, 1847; =48=Orders,
Dec. 24, 1846; =247=Biddle to Larkin, Mar. 6, 1847. =47=Stockton to
Du Pont and to Hull, Aug. 20, 1846. =47=_Id._, reports, Aug. 22; Nov.
23. =47=Hull to Stockton, Sept. 12. =47=Du Pont to Stockton, Oct. 12.
=76=Peinbert to ----, res., undated. _Calif. Star_, i, no. 9. (Guaymas)
Du Pont, Official Despatches, 13; =47=Correspondence of Du Pont,
Spanish vice consul, and Campusano; _Sonorense_, Oct. 9; =76=comte.
gen. of Sinaloa, Nov. 11; =76=gov. Sonora, Oct. 16; =76=Campusano,
Oct. 5; _Cyane_, journal; U. S. Naval Instit. Proceeds., 1888, p. 539
(Rowan). (Mazatlán) =171=Cyane, journal and abstract of journal; =47=Du
Pont to Stockton, Dec. 1; _Id._, Official Despatches, 19; =12=Walker
to Seymour, Mar. 26, 1847; =76=Téllez to Bustamante, Feb. 17, 1847;
=13=A. Forbes, Apr. 17, 1847; =13=Bankhead, no. 9, 1847. Sen. 1; 29,
2, pp. 378-80. Sen. 1; 30, 1, 948. Balbontín, Estado, 19. Memoria
de ... Guerra, Dec., 1846. (Spring) =120=Shubrick to Biddle, May 4,
1847; =120=list of captures. Wise, Gringos (N. Y., 1849), 82-100.
=76=Letter from Mazatlán, May 5; =247=Biddle to Larkin, Mar. 6, 1847.
=47=Shubrick, May 31; June 1; Aug. 11, 1847. (Monopoly) =12=Seymour,
Dec. 26, 1846, no. 70. (After May) =61=R. B. Mason to adj. gen., Feb.
1, 1848; =47=Shubrick, May 31, 1847. _Journ. Milit. Serv. Instit._,
xxxii, 249.
Stockton intended to cruise for the protection of our whalers, etc.,
and also to invade Mexico by way of Acapulco (vol. i, p. 338); but
affairs in California prevented. The _Malek Adel_ was bravely cut
out at Mazatlán, Sept. 7, 1846, under the Mexican guns. Guaymas was
cannonaded because the Mexicans refused to give up two gunboats,
preferring to burn them. As there were two harbors at Mazatlán, a
single vessel could not blockade the port satisfactorily. In the
spring of 1847 Shubrick was ordered to blockade both Mazatlán and
Guaymas, but for this reason he kept both the _Independence_ and the
_Cyane_ at Mazatlán. In Feb. and March, 1847, there might have been
serious trouble between the British commander, Sir Baldwin Walker, and
Captain Montgomery of the _Portsmouth_ owing to conflicting orders and
interests; but the former, having far the stronger force, knew he
could afford to be considerate, and the latter treated British commerce
so well that our government was thanked by England (=13=to Crampton,
June 30, 1847; Sherman, Sloat, xxiv; and note particularly _Journ.
Milit. Serv. Institute_, xxxii, 249-53). Shubrick was at Mazatlán in
May, 1847, but left at the beginning of June. The _Cyane_ remained a
little longer. She and the _Portsmouth_ anchored there, at the end of
June, but both sailed away within two days. Biddle was ordered Jan. 6,
1846, to take command of the squadron, but did not receive the orders
until Dec. 31 (at Lima). Mar. 2 he took command. His vessels then were
the _Columbus_ (74 guns) on which he arrived, _Independence_ (razee,
54), frigates _Congress_ (44) and _Savannah_ (44), sloops _Portsmouth_
(20), _Levant_ (20), _Cyane_ (20), _Warren_ (20), _Dale_ (16) and
_Preble_ (16), storeships _Erie_ (8), _Lexington_ (8) and _Southampton_
(6), and the captured _Malek Adel_ (Sen. 1; 30, 1, p. 948; =48=Bancroft
to Shubrick, Aug. 21, 1846). The _Savannah_ and _Levant_ went home;
and the _Warren_, on account of its condition, was assigned to guard
duty (=120=Shubrick to Stockton, Mar. 1, 1847). The _Ohio_ reached the
squadron in the early part of 1848. Besides blockading, cruising for
prizes, looking after the American whalers, and watching for possible
privateers, long voyages were necessary to obtain provisions and
instructions. The latter were usually very tardy and the commanders
had to follow their own judgment in the main. Monterey, Calif., was in
general the base of operations.
30.26. (Succeeded) =49=Bancroft to Shubrick, Aug. 21, 1846;
=120=Shubrick to Biddle, Mar. 5; July 20, 1847; =47=Shubrick, July
21. (Notice) =47=_Id._, Aug. 11. Ho. 1; 30, 2, pp. 1072-5 (Shubrick).
=76=Téllez, Nov. 4, 1847. (Guaymas) Ho. 1; 30, 2, pp. 1075-83
(Lavallette _et al._), 1110 (Shubrick); _Correo Nacional_, Nov. 30;
=13=Wooldridge, Nov. 18. (Mazatlán) Wise, Gringos (N. Y., 1849),
95; Lummis, Mex. of To-day, 150; Mofras, Explor., i, 173; Gaxiola,
Invasión, 162.
Guaymas, a place of considerable importance, was summoned Oct. 19. The
Mexican troops and people decamped, and the cannon were removed. Hence
the cannonade did little harm. A civil official reported the evacuation
to Lavallette of the _Congress_, who was there with the _Portsmouth_
(Montgomery). As Campusano, who was believed to have 600-800 troops and
6-8 guns, remained in the vicinity and cut off water and provisions,
the town was abandoned by its foreign residents also. American marines
landed, but soon reëmbarked. Nov. 17 a landing party was ambushed in
the town, and the _Dale_, then occupying the harbor, took part in the
firing. One American was wounded. The harbor of Mazatlán was open to
the worst winds.
30.27. The references to Téllez in =76= are almost innumerable. It
seems enough to cite here: M. Gutiérrez, May 19, 1846; To J. I.
Gutiérrez, May 13, 17; To Téllez, Aug. 18; J. I. Gutiérrez, May 9; also
Gaxiola, Invasión, _passim_; Apuntes, 371-3; =13=Bankhead, no. 74,
1846; Wise, Gringos (N. Y., 1849), 99. See also chap. xvi, note 16.5.
Téllez, who was a generous, careless person, arrived at Mazatlán at
the head of an expedition bound for Upper California. During the year
before the war the receipts from the customhouse were about $3,000,000.
He pronounced May 7, 1846, in favor of federalism as an excuse for
insubordination. In Jan., 1847, fearing the government might overpower
him, he pronounced for Santa Anna as dictator. He pretended to be a
loyal Mexican, and the government wavered between recognizing him as
comandante general of Sinaloa and trying to crush him. Finally it
decided on the latter course. Cut off from his financial resources
by the Americans, he could not support his forces, and toward the end
of Jan., 1848, he gave up. J. P. Anaya was then comte. gen. (Capture
of Mazatlán, etc.) Ho. 1; 30, 2, pp. 1089-92, 1104, 1110, 1117; Wise,
Gringos (N. Y., 1849), 144-5; Apuntes, 374-5; =76=Téllez, Nov. 10,
14, 15; =61=Shubrick to R. B. Mason, Dec. 6; =13=Wooldridge, Nov. 18;
Gaxiola, Invasión, 163-6. The _Erie_ had arrived at M. on Nov. 1.
(Nov. 20) Ho. 1; 30, 2, pp. 1105-8; Wise, _op. cit._, 150-7;
=76=Téllez, Nov. 20; U. S. Naval Instit. Proceeds., 1888 (Rowan, p.
555); Apuntes, 376; =76=Horn, Nov. 15, 21; Gaxiola, Invasión, 186.
A land party of 94 and a boat party of 62 set out from Mazatlán at
about 1 A.M. The Mexicans, who were commanded by Lieut. Carlos Horn,
a Swiss, ought to have been routed, but they had received notice of
the expedition and were on the alert. The American land party fell
partially into an ambuscade, and the boat party were misled. After some
desultory fighting both sides retired. The Americans lost 1 killed and
21 wounded. The Mexican loss was probably somewhat larger.
Dec. 13 Americans routed a Mexican advanced party about twenty miles
from the city, inflicting some loss and suffering none (Ho. 60; 30,
1, p. 1083-4; Ho. 1; 30, 2, p. 1121). The Mexican blockade was evaded
easily by bribery.
(Fortifications) Ho. 1; 30, 2, p. 1120 (Halleck), 1131 (Shubrick);
=76=J. P. Anaya, Mar. 11, 1848. (Safe) Ho. 60; 30, 1, p. 1083
(Shubrick).
(S. Blas) Ho. 60; 30, 1, p. 1084 (Shubrick); comte. gen. of Jalisco,
Jan. 11; Feb. 22, 1848; Ho. 1; 30, 2, pp. 1127 (Bailey), 1128
(Chatard). S. Blas was blockaded under a fresh notice issued Jan.
1, in consequence of the delay. (Manzanillo) Ho. 1; 30, 2, p. 1129
(Shubrick); princ. comte., Colima, Jan. 18; comte. gen. Jalisco, Feb.
1, 29. Altata was blockaded Feb. 13 by a hired schooner, the _Triton_
(=76=comte. gen. Sinaloa, Feb. 21). (Expeditions) Ho. 1; 30, 2, pp.
1133-7, 1158-61; comte. gen. Jalisco, Feb. 1. Jan. 31 Shubrick reported
that not one Mexican cannon was mounted on the coast except at Acapulco
(Ho. 1; 30, 2, p. 1129). Early in Nov., 1847, T. A. C. Jones set out
from the east to meet the _Ohio_ at Valparaiso and succeed Shubrick.