were removed and (it was reported) sold by Juan Alvarez. Shubrick
(=47=Aug. 11, 1847) said it was worse than useless to blockade Mazatlán
without blockading S. Blas, because vessels unable to enter at M. would
then enter at S. B. and pay duties to the Mexicans. He forcibly urged
upon Scott and Col. Mason, commanding in California, the importance of
providing troops (Ho. 60; 30, 1, p. 1035; =61=Dec. 6, 1847), and Mason
sent as far as Oregon for volunteers (Sherman, Memoirs, i, 38); but
every effort to find men was in vain (=61=Mason, May 19, 1848). All
that Mason could spare went to Lower California. With the men who were
ashore Shubrick said he could have sealed up the west coast (Ho. 60;
30, 1, p. 1084).
Mason to Stockton, Jan. 11, 1847. S. José was occupied Mar. 30;
S. Lucas Apr. 3; La Paz Apr. 13. In August two companies of N. Y.
volunteers under Lt. Col. Burton arrived on the ground. The passing of
men and munitions from the mainland to the Peninsula was promptly cut
off by our navy. The towns of Mulejé (opposite Guaymas) and Comandú,
several hundred miles to the north of La Paz, were the centres of the
opposition. Citizens of the former under Vicente Mejía and of the
latter under J. M. Moreno, all commanded by Manuel Pineda, marched
south with no little devotion. Pineda moved against La Paz (held by
Burton); the other two leaders against S. José (held by Lieut. Heywood
of the navy). The latter were repulsed without much difficulty, but
only the arrival of the _Cyane_, Dec. 8, ended a series of small
skirmishes at La Paz. In Jan. S. José had to undergo a more serious
attack. By the twelfth our garrison (27 marines, 15 seamen, some 20
volunteers) found itself, after a desultory siege of about three weeks,
in a critical situation; but on the fourteenth Du Pont arrived in the
_Cyane_, and this ensured the defeat of the Mexicans on the following
day. March 22 about 150 American troops, who had left Monterey Mar.
5, arrived at La Paz. Burton, having now about 270 men, assumed the
offensive, and the skirmish of Mar. 30 at Todos Santos (without loss on
the American side) ended the hostilities. The American casualties in
all the skirmishing were insignificant. For the principal documents see
Ho. 1; 30, 2, pp. 103-12, 1055-64, 1086-8, 1095-1102, 1110-2, 1117-8,
1122-7, 1129-31, 1137-55; Ho. 17; 31, 1; Sen. 18; 31, 1, pp. 293,
299, 488-504; Du Pont, Official Despatches, 23, 31, 35; =76=Pineda to
comte. gen. Sonora, Oct. 3, 1847; =47=Shubrick, Dec. 4, 21; =76=Princ.
comte. of Mulejé to V. Mejía, Oct. 3; =76=Pineda and Mejía, Oct. 3;
=76=Relaciones to Guerra, Feb. 26, 1848. U. S. Naval Instit. Proceeds.,
xiv, pp. 304-25.
30.29. =13=Bankhead, no. 168, 1846. London _Times_, Jan. 30, 1847.
=73=Bermúdez de Castro, nos. 441, 445, 1847. =163=Semmes to Conner,
Sept. 29, 1850. Conner, Home Squadron, 3-4, 21. Bennett, _Monitor_,
40-1. =162=Matson to Conner, Mar. 28, 1847. =162=Mason to _Id._,
Nov. 29, 1846, priv. and confid. Richardson, Messages, iv, 570-2.
=13=Giffard to Bankhead, May 27, 1846. =166=Shubrick to Conner, Aug.
19, 1845, priv. Buchanan, Works, vii, 240-1, 290-2. =47=Conner, June
30, 1846.
Spain complained of us, but unjustly. Some thought inefficiency was
shown by the number of American vessels lost (besides the _Somers_
and the _Truxtun_, the _Boston_, the _Hecla_ and the _Neptune_ were
wrecked, the _Perry_ and the _Cumberland_ were damaged, and some minor
losses were suffered), but considering the character of the coast
this opinion seems unfair. An important feature of the war was the
demonstration of the superiority of steam vessels.
30.30. =76=Lavallette, proclam., Oct. 26, 1847. Apuntes, 375-9. Conner,
Home Squadron, 14. Negrete, Invasión, iii, 139-46; app., 399. Ho. 1;
30, 2, pp. 1092 (articles), 1109, 1129-33 (Shubrick). =47=Letter to
Shubrick, Dec. 23, 1847. =47=Lavallette, orders, 5, 6, 1847; 3, 5,
1848. Semmes, Service, 85-7. Gaxiola, Invasión, 166-81, 217, 223.
Duties to the amount of $150,000 were collected. Conner reported, June
30, 1846, that the blockade had deprived Mexico of $500,000 in duties.
This paragraph belongs logically in chap. xxxi, but is placed here to
complete the subject.
XXXI. THE AMERICANS AS CONQUERORS
31.1. For the conduct of naval men see pp. 208-9 and note 30.30 of that
chapter.
31.2. _The American policy._ Ho. 60; 30, 1, pp. 155-8, 165-6, 284.
_Matamoros Flag_, July 14, 1846. =60=Marcy to McElroy, May 19, 1846.
Polk, Diary, May 19-20. Our proclamations had some effect upon the
people, but probably not much. They were accustomed to meaningless
promises.
31.3. Gen. Patterson once asserted that volunteers were no worse than
regulars, but the evidence of other officers and of the Mexicans was
overwhelmingly against him. Regulars committed offences, but these
appear to have been commonly pilfering, and to have been chargeable
mostly to fresh recruits. It is probable, however, that the volunteers
often bore the blame for acts done by soldiers dishonorably discharged,
deserters, teamsters and other civilian employees and by the many
"black legs" and "human vultures" who followed the army. The great
difficulty was to identify the culprits. Mexicans were often afraid to
testify against our soldiers.
31.4. After Matamoros was captured, crowds of women and girls continued
to bathe naked in the river. The same thing occurred elsewhere.
31.5. A Mexican wrote to Gen. Mejía that Taylor expressly refused to
accept any responsibility for such men, and that he said the people
might kill them.
31.6. _The Matamoros district._ =91=Ayuntamiento archives. Davis,
Autobiog., 102. Meade, Letters, i, 86, 91, 105, 108-9, 147.
=218=Hershaw narrative. Tilden, Notes, 21. Robertson, Remins., 71.
Scott (=256= to Marcy, Jan. 16, 1847, private) gave an appalling
account of the outrages and added, "As far as I can learn, not one of
the felons has been punished." =291=Cushing to Pierce, May 4, 1847.
Smith, Chile con Carne, 292-4. Brackett, Lane's Brigade, 22. Buhoup,
Narrative, 50. Oswandel, Notes, 37, 49, 193. V. Cruz _American Eagle_,
Apr. 10, 1847. =13=Giffard to Pakenham, May 28; to Bankhead, May 20;
June 9. =13=Bankhead, no. 118, 1846. French, Two Wars, 58. =65=Taylor,
gen. orders 62, May 17; 65, May 23; 94, Aug. 2. =65=Patterson, orders,
Sept. 29; Oct. 14. _Picayune_, Aug. 4, 25. New Orl. _Commer. Bulletin_,
Sept. 22. =69=Cushing, order, Sept. 24, 1847. =69=Longoria, statement,
Aug. 17. =60=Patterson to Bliss, Oct. 21. =60=Taylor to Hepburn _et
al._, Nov. 2. Zirckel, Tagebuch, 45-6. Matamoros _Reveille_, June 24.
Henry, Camp. Sketches, 118, 122, 124, 137. Giddings, Sketches, 89.
Ho. 60; 30, 1, p. 1178. _Niles_, Aug. 1, 1846, p. 341; Sept. 12, p.
23. Davis, Recolls., 236. _Spirit of the Times_, July 4. Sedgwick,
Corresp., i., 4-5. New London _Morning News_, Dec. 10. _History
Teacher's Mag._, Apr., 1912 (Vieregg). =308=Shields to Walker, Aug. 3.
_Nat. Intelligencer_, Dec. 23, 1846. =193=Foster to father, Aug. 14,
1846 (Matamoros a "complete sink of pollution"). =180=Pillow to wife,
Sept. 6, 1846. =76=Mejía, June 20. =76=Spanish consul, Matamoros, June
7. =76=García to Parrodi June 20; Aug. 10. =76=Division of the North,
_Noticias_, July 8. =76=_Gaceta de Tamaulipas_, July 16. =76=Parrodi,
June 3. =76=Carroll to Faulac, Aug. 9.
31.7. In June, 1847, Taylor expressed the opinion that the Texan horse
had scarcely made one expedition without committing murder, and asked
that no more should be sent to him (Ho. 60; 30, 1, p. 1178). Some of
them committed outrages at Parras, where the Americans had been kindly
treated, and Wool then ordered that Texan volunteers should not be
sent on distant expeditions except under "extraordinary circumstances"
(=69=McDowell to Hamtramck, Dec. 10, 1847).
31.8. _E.g._: No soldier quartered outside the town (as nearly all
were) could enter it without a pass signed by his captain and his
colonel. Such passes were good for only one day, and only two could
be issued the same day in the same company. Soldiers could use only
a particular road and had to leave the city before the retreat was
sounded (Ho. 60; 30, 1, p. 508). Besides punishing offences, our
commanders endeavored, first of all, to prevent the sale of liquor;
secondly, to shut out gamblers and other undesirable followers of the
army; and, thirdly, to inculcate a sense of humanity and a regard for
the rights of the people. In April, 1847, well-to-do refugees were
ordered to return to Monterey under the threat of occupying their
houses, for while absent they were beyond the reach of American taxes
and were encouraging guerillas (=97=Monterey judge, Apr. 14, 1847). A
similar policy was followed elsewhere.
31.9. American officers were not, however, flabby in protecting the
lives of their men, and sometimes the authorities or the people of
a place where one of these fell a victim to Mexican hate were held
responsible until the culprit was discovered (_e.g._, =61=Wool to
Pleasanton, Jan. 15, 1848). Such wholesale justice was often the
only possible kind, and there is ample evidence that even the cruel
retaliation practised by our soldiers had good effects.
31.10. _The Monterey district._ Meade, Letters, i., 108, 130, 147,
161. =218=Henshaw narrative. _Picayune_, Jan. 27, 1847. =212=Hastings,
diary, May 28, 1847. Giddings, Sketches, 221, 325. Buhoup, Narrative,
108. Thorpe, Our Army at Monterey, 120. =144=Cassidy, recoils. Anon,
diary. =97=Ayunt., Saltillo, Apr. 14, 1847. =93=Ayunt., Monterey, Oct.
8, 1846; May 18, 1847. Durango _Registro Oficial_, Oct. 15, 1846.
_Epoca_, Oct. 17. London _Times_, June 15, 1847. =221=Hill, diary.
=280=Nunelee, diary. =303=Orders 149, Dec. 3, 1846. Everett, Recolls.,
216-9. =13=Giffard to Bankhead, May 20, 1846. =13=Bankhead, no. 118,
1846. _Diario_, Oct. 9, 24; Nov. 2. _Monitor Repub._, Oct. 18, 28;
Nov. 20. Washington _Union_, Dec. 29. _National Intelligencer_, Sept.
10; Nov. 11; Dec. 7, 23. _Metropol. Mag._, Dec., 1907 (Hamilton).
Henry, Camp. Sketches, 222-5. Smith, To Mexico, 85, 89. =61=Hamtramck
to McDowell, Jan. 20, 1848. =65=Wool, orders 67, Feb. 26, 1848.
=65=Taylor, gen. orders, 126, Oct. 5, 1846; 149, Dec. 2. =65=Patterson,
orders, Sept. 29; Oct. 14. =65=Wool, orders 7, 15, 25, 31, 64, 66-7,
94, 112, Jan.-Mar., 1848. =65=Taylor, special orders 114, Sept., 1847.
=65=Wool, special orders 147, 156, Dec., 1847. =61=Wool to Hamtramck,
Dec. 18, 1847. =61=McDowell to Hamtramck, Dec. 10, 1847; to Butler,
Mar. 2, 1848. =61=Wool to Pleasanton, Jan. 15, 1848. =307=Roberts,
diary, Nov. 28; Dec 5, 1846. _Delta_, Aug. 15, 1847. =147=Chamberlain,
diary. Apuntes, 65. _Gaceta Extraordinaria_, Victoria, Aug. 17, 1846.
Wilhelm, Eighth Infantry, i, 281. =69=Morales to Taylor, Sept. 29;
Oct. 6. =65=Worth, orders, Oct. 8. =69=_Id._ to Bliss, Sept. 27; Oct.
5. =61=_Id._, endorsement on statement of Gaines. =61=Taylor, June 4,
1847. =61=Wool to Jones, May 9, 1848. J. Davis in _Cong. Globe_, 37,
1, app., p. 1034. =93=Mitchell, proclam., Apr. 6, 1847. =93=Tibbatts,
orders, Sept. 8, 1847. _Republicano_, Apr. 14, 1847. Carpenter,
Travels, 13, 29, 30. =52=Dimond, no. 341, May 24, 1846. Ho. 60; 30,
1, pp. 430-1, 1125, 1138, 1178 (Taylor); 508, 512-3, orders 126, 146,
149; 533, spec. orders 113. _Niles_, Nov. 14, 1846, p. 165; Nov. 21, p.
180; Apr. 10, 1847, p. 89; Oct. 23, p. 115. =370=Taylor to Louisville
Legion, Dec. 1, 1846. _Hist. Mag._, May, 1870 (Deas). Sen. 32; 31, 1,
p. 43. =214=Hays and Caperton, Life of Hays. _Observador Zacatecano_,
Dec. 27, 1846, supplement. =76=González to S. Anna, Nov. 21, 1846.
=76=Garcia to Parrodi, Aug. 10, 1846. =76=Ampudia, Oct. 4, 1846. =76=J.
F. Rada, Oct. 17. =76=Letter from Cadereita, Apr. 5, 1847. =76=Many
others.
By the end of the war desolation marked the route from the Rio
Grande to Saltillo except at the sizable towns. To the credit of the
volunteers it should be added that on Mar. 9, 1847, two priests and
other citizens of Monterey presented a =93=petition to Taylor to
let the Kentucky regiment garrison the city, not only because those
soldiers were accustomed to it, but because their "well known morality
and good conduct" inspired "security and confidence."
31.11. Some of the orders were: Strangers now here and Mexicans
arriving must report for examination, no Mexican may have arms or leave
town without permission, all Mexicans conducting themselves properly
are entitled to civil and kind treatment as well as protection, and the
troops must not molest them under pain of severe punishment (Jan. 25,
1847); All officers are to see that soldiers annoying the Mexicans are
punished (Feb. 1); Not only officers but men are to arrest any soldier
maltreating a Mexican (Feb. 12); Gambling-houses and drinking-houses
must be broken up, no one may stay in town who would countenance such
things, "improper intruders" will not be tolerated, and quiet must be
maintained (March 16); Officers in town without my express permission
must return to the camp at Buena Vista (June 6); No one may reside at
Saltillo, if able to work, without some honest vocation, a tariff of
prices will be issued from time to time, public exhibitions and dances
without permission are prohibited, Mexican houses may not be taken for
private uses without the consent of the owners (July 9). Some of these
orders were merely repetitions of orders previously given. The policy
was to have no more troops in town than were needed to guard property,
etc. To prevent serious outrages, soldiers were forbidden to leave the
camp at Buena Vista armed (=65=Aug. 10, 1847); and this was the rule
elsewhere.
31.12. _The Saltillo district._ Wilhelm, Eighth Infantry, i., 299.
=300=Prickett, letters. =97=Ayuntamiento archives. =97=Jefe político
to ayunt., Nov. 30, 1846. =34=Stokes to Graham, Aug. 8, 1847. Perry,
Indiana, 138, 142. =61=Paine to Porterfield, Jan. 24, 1848. =69=Worth
to E. González, Dec. 16, 17, 1846. =65=Wool, orders 202, 209, 219,
245, etc., Jan.-Mar., 1847. =65=_Id._, orders 275, 286, 308, 315, 341,
350, 394, 455, May-Sept., 1847. =65=_Id._, orders 138, Dec. 14, 1847.
=61=McDowell to Hamtramck, Dec. 28, 1847. _Picayune_, June 1; July 2,
1847. =65=Worth, orders, Nov. 16, 19, 23. =97=_Id._, proclam., Nov. 19.
=69=_Id._ to Saltillo officials, Nov. 17, 23. =69=Gov. Saltillo, order,
Jan. 11, 1848. _Correo Nacional_, Mar. 3, 1848. =348=Pattridge to Miss
W., Aug. 25, 1847. Ho. 60; 30, 1, pp. 1111, 1125 (Taylor). _Littell_,
no. 165, p. 88 (Saltillo, May 11, 1847). =364=Worth to daughter, Jan.
4, 1847. _Monitor Repub._, Mar. 29, 1847. Arnold, Jackson, 87-90. And
from =76= the following and many more. González to Worth, Nov. 30;
reply, Dec. 2. Relaciones, Feb. 1, 1848. González to S. Anna, Nov. 21,
1846. Orders of Worth, Nov. 16, 19, 22, 23, 1846. González, protest,
Nov. 22, 1846. Worth to González, Nov. 28; Dec. 17, 1846. S. Anna,
Jan. 4, 1847 (with docs. from González). Worth to ----, Nov. 17, 1846.
Hunten to González, Mar. 29, 1847. Filisola, Aug. 10, 1847. Avalos,
Aug. 5, 1847.
31.13. It was left for a regular to show the benefit of discipline,
for he visited a suburban village, terrorized some 250 able-bodied
Mexicans, and went calmly from house to house collecting blackmail.
31.14. _The Tampico district._ =99=Ayuntamiento archives. =146=Caswell,
diary, Apr. 1, 1847. _Eco_, Dec. 9, 1846. =99=Shields to ayunt.,
Dec. 28, 1846; Jan. 2, 1847. =13=Consul Glass, Aug. 21, 1847.
=69=Gates, orders 17, 26, 28, 35, Mar.-Apr., 1847. =159=Collins, diary
(introduction). =65=Gates, orders 30, 48, 49; special orders 7, 10,
30, 41. _Picayune_, Jan. 2, 8; Feb. 18; Mar. 19. =69=Shields, orders
3, Dec. 22, 1846; to Bliss, Jan. 13, 1847. =61=J. L. Gardner, Nov.
23, 1846. =61=Gates, Dec. 4, 1846. =61=_Id._, orders, Sept: 18, 1847.
=61=Shields, orders, Jan. 1, 2, 6, 1847. =61=_Id._, Dec. 23, 1846; Jan.
19, 1847. =75=Hacienda to Relaciones, Dec. 3, 1847. Lawton, Artillery
Officer, 12, 24, 37, 39, 40, 46-7. Ballentine, English Soldier, i,
276-81. Wilhelm, Eighth Infantry, i, 299. =76=I. Múñoz, Nov. 26, 1846,
=76=R. M. Núñez, Jan. 25, 1847. =76=Testimony of Mateo Dorante. =76=F.
de Garay, Jan. 22, 1847. =76=Docs. sent by Garay. =76=A. González to
Urrea, Feb. 1, 1847. =76=Many others.
31.15. Ho. 60; 30, 1, pp. 333-6 (Marcy). =224=Hitchcock, diary, Mar.
26, 1846. =52=W. S. Parrott, Oct. 4, 1845. =52=Slidell, no. 3, Dec.
17, 1845. =61=Taylor, no. 10, Feb. 7, 1846. =61=Carbajal to Taylor,
Feb. 6, 1846. =61=_Id._, memo., Feb. 6. =61=Canales to Taylor, Jan.
29, 1846. =61=[Mesa to Taylor], statement. _Monitor Repub._, June 14,
1846. =93=Ayunt. to gov. N. León, Dec. 31, 1846. London _Times_, June
15, 1847. _Picayune_, Aug. 11, 1846. Ampudia, Manifiesto, 1847. Henshaw
narrative. =69=Unsigned statement. =285=Mejía to Paredes, July 20,
1846. =52=Butler, Aug. 1, 1832. Smith, Annex. of Texas, 46-7. _Niles_,
Nov. 21, 1846, p. 180. =76=Comte. gen. Nuevo León, broadside, Aug. 12,
1846. =76=Ampudia, Sept. 9, 1846. =76=Mora y Villamil, Apr. 19, 1847,
res. =76=Many others.
The number of citations could be multiplied, and the author may write
an article or brief monograph on the subject.
31.16. July 7, 1847, the veteran ex-editor of the Washington _Globe_
said in a =345=letter: My son [Frank P. Blair, who had been U. S.
district attorney of the province] "represents the state of things in
New Mexico as horrible. It seems that even respectable men at home,
have become so depraved by the license of the region they are in, that
they stick at no enormity whatever." A little later the most concise
report from Santa Fe ran thus, "All is hubbub and confusion here,
discharged volunteers are leaving, drunk, and volunteers not discharged
are remaining drunk" (_Niles_, Nov. 6, 1847, p. 155).
31.17. Here, as in California, military rule was softened by having
a subordinate civil administration. The reader will understand, of
course, that not everything was bad. In the scanty space that can be
given to the subject here it is necessary to speak in broad terms.
31.18. _New Mexico._ _Nat. Intelligencer_, Dec. 8, 1846; Apr. 1;
May 13; Aug. 11, 1847. Wash. _Union_, Mar. 18; Apr. 21, 1847. N. Y.
_Tribune_, Nov. 22, 1847. Prince, Concise History, 182-6. =13=Doyle,
no. 29, Mar. 14, 1848. Sen. 1; 29, 2, pp. 58-9. =52=Alvarez, Sept. 4,
1846. =63=Marcy to Kearny, May 10, 1847. =61=Kearny order, Sept. 22,
1846. =61=Grier, Feb. 15, 1847. =61=Newby, Sept. 18; Oct. 8, 1847.
=61=Price, Feb. 26; Aug. 14, 1847. =60=Marcy to Price, Mar. 30, 1847;
to Edwards, Mar. 25, 1847. =61=Ingalls, Feb. 16, 1847. =61=Fischer,
Feb. 16, 1847. Bancroft, Pacific States, xii, 431. =61=Broadside, Feb.
15, 1847. =68=Court-martial, Feb. 4, 1848 (S. Fe). =69=Vigil, Mar.
26, 1847. Sen. 18; 31, 1, pp. 183-6. Inman, Old S. Fe Trail, 113-40.
=345=Blair to Van Buren July 7, 1847. =73=Bermúdez de Castro, no. 445,
1847. _Anzeiger des Westens_, Sept. 24, 26; Nov. 16, 1846; June 21,
1847 (Kribben). =243=Kribben, letters. Ho. 60; 30, 1, pp. 172, 174-7
(Kearny). Ho. Report 52; 37, 3. _Niles_, Apr. 24, 1847, pp. 119, 121;
June 19, p. 252; Aug. 14, p. 375; Nov. 6, p. 155. N. Y. _Courier and
Enquirer_, Aug. 13, 1847. Ho. 5; 31, 1, p. 104. Report of Conner,
Indian Affairs, 1858, p. 188. Ho. 70; 30, 1, pp. 11, 13, 17, 21, 24,
31, 33, 34, etc. Sen. 1; 30, 1, pp. 520, 524, 531-5, 545. =256=Polk to
Marcy, June 2, 1846. =201=Gibson, diary. _Picayune_, Mar. 5, 1847.
Ho. 41; 30, 1, pp. 498, 511-2, 551. Richardson, Messages, iv, 507,
594, 639. Wash. _Union_, Oct. 3; Nov. 25, 1846. Parkman, Calif, and
Ore. Trail, 416-20. Elliott, Notes, 233, 247. =224=Santa Fe letter
(printed). Sen. 23; 30, 1 (Abert). Ruxton, Adventures (1847 ed.), 185,
189. Benton, View, ii, 683. =61=Price, Sept. 18, 1847. =212=Hastings,
diary. Cooke, Conquest, 39, 41, 50. =239=Mead to Kemper, July 26, 1841.
Hughes, Doniphan's Expedition, 131. =61=Wooster, Sept. 25, 1846. Sen.
7; 30, 1 (Emory). Ho. 24; 31, 1. Price, portrait (Mo. Hist. Soc.).
=61=_Id._ to delegates; to adj. gen., Feb. 6, 1848. =65=_Id._, orders
10, Feb. 5. =61=Prince to Vigil, Dec. 21, 1847. Numerous documents
relating to the subject may be found among the Vigil papers (N. Mex.
Hist. Soc.). Cutts, Conquest, 217-35, 240-3. =76=Varela, Sept. 6, 1847.
=76=Chávez to Armijo, Aug. 24, 1847. =76=Ugarte to Filisola, July 2,
1847. =76=Bent, proclam., Jan. 2, 1847. =76=Many others. The American
loss in fighting the insurgents was 8 killed, 52 wounded.
Chihuahua was merely an addendum to Santa Fe. The people seemed to
regard our troops "as a race of devils and with just reason," wrote a
soldier in his diary. Once two Americans, fighting in their cups, tore
each other's clothes off and went stark naked through the streets. Of
course property suffered. The women, however, in spite of husbands,
fiancés and priests, were devoted to the Americans, and when the time
for evacuation came some followed their lovers for leagues, and a few
even for days. For the state of things in Chihuahua: Sen. Misc. 26; 30,
1. _The Anglo-Saxon_, (Chihuahua), no. 1. Bustamante, Nuevo Bernal,
ii, 110. Ho. Report 404; 30, 1, pp. 6, 13. Rondé, Voyage, 136, 138-9.
=212=Hastings, diary. =201=Gibson, diary. _Anzeiger des Westens_, June
21, 1847 (Kribben). _Republicano_, April 10, 1847.
31.19. Kearny claimed the right to govern, but Stockton and Frémont
insisted that his instructions to take possession of California
and establish a civil government there had been made obsolete by
events. Kearny perforce accepted the situation for a time, and
with his dragoons went north at the end of January. The friction
between him and Frémont was acute. Finally, when both were on their
way east, Kearny had Frémont arrested. On charges--essentially
insubordination--preferred by the General, Frémont was tried by a
court-martial and sentenced to be dismissed from the army (=65=adj.
gen., orders, Feb. 17, 1848). Polk remitted the sentence, but Frémont
resigned. This controversy having been merely incidental to the war,
more space cannot be given to it; but, as the opinion of the author may
be desired, he will say, after reviewing all the documents of the case,
that he thinks Frémont was a provokingly unprincipled and successful
schemer, and that Kearny showed himself grasping, jealous, domineering
and harsh.
31.20. The Mormons were free July 16, 1847, and but one company could
be recruited from the battalion. This served till March 14, 1848. A
part of the New York regiment was sent to Lower California (chap. xxx,
note 28, and the gold-diggings led some to desert. February 1, 1848,
Mason had only 621 effectives (=61=Mason to adj. gen., Feb. 1, 1848).