to turn the Mexican left. He finally came out in front of certain
batteries, charged them but was _repulsed completely_ and himself
badly wounded. About this time Harney carried the Telegraph Hill and
that commanding these last batteries, one or two discharges from its
summit with the captured pieces at once cleared them. Upon that the
Volunteers right gallantly charged and carried them at the point of the
bayonet, _there not being a soul in the battery at this time_.
Twiggs--at least a part of his Division--moved on at once in pursuit.
The Cavalry soon followed, but the Mexicans had gained a long start and
made the best use of their legs--so that not very many were killed or
taken in the pursuit. Twiggs and the Cavalry also the Volunteers halted
at Encero. Worth remained at Plan del Rio and Cerro Gordo. I myself
overtook my company at Encero where we bivouacked that night--and felt
right proud that we had won that day a glorious victory.
On the morning of the 19th we marched from Encero to Jalapa, about
twelve miles, at the head of Twiggs’s Division. We entered Jalapa about
11.30 A. M., our company being the first American infantry to set foot
in that city. It rained quite violently during the greater part of
the march, which prevented me from enjoying fully the beauty of the
scenery, especially as I had to _foot it_. It was really delightful,
upon entering Jalapa, to see gentlemen and _ladies_, at least persons
dressed and appearing as such. The white faces of the ladies struck us
as being exceedingly beautiful--they formed so pleasing a contrast to
the black and brown complexions of the Indians and negroes who had for
so long been the only human beings to greet our sight. The Jalapiños
appeared perfectly indifferent about us, manifesting neither pleasure
nor sorrow at our approach. Our march from Encero and entrance into
Jalapa was entirely undisturbed--not a shot being fired or soldiers
seen. Of course not the slightest excess was committed by any of the
Regulars. We at first marched to the Cuartel [Barracks] where we
remained some few hours, until at last we were ordered to a posada
[sleeping place] on the Plaza.
I was very much pleased with the appearance of Jalapa and its
inhabitants. The women were generally pretty, the gentlemen well
dressed. They carried to a great extent the custom of filling the
balconies with flowers, which gave a very pleasant appearance to the
streets. Soon after we had established ourselves at the posada we were
astonished by a great commotion in the streets, which was ascertained
to be caused by the arrival of the Cerro Gordo prisoners, who had all
been released on parole, and of course fought us again upon the first
opportunity. They were marching back to Puebla and Mexico, organized in
regiments, etc.--merely being deprived of their arms. The disgust in
the Division at this release was most intense, we felt poorly repaid
for our exertions by the release of these scoundrels, who, we felt
sure, would to a man break their parole. They passed the night in the
streets around the Plaza and in the morning robbed all the poor market
women in the vicinity.[53]
We had no beds that night--our baggage not being up--were lucky enough
to get some frijoles and chocolate for supper--breakfast ditto. Worth’s
Division came up about one o’clock on the 20th and we were ordered on
at the head of it,--to leave Jalapa at 3.30 of the same day.
* * * * *
City of Mexico,[54] opposite Alameda, November 3rd, 1847. G. W. thinks
that a captain will be sent out to command the Company, and that he (G.
W.) will be relieved by the 1st March, 1848. Mc. thinks that no captain
will come and that the unfortunate “duet” wont get out under a year, or
longer. Quien Sabe?
April 15th, Post Office--Captain hasn’t “arrivo”--duet still here--year
most half out and a’in’t off yet!!![55]
September 22nd, 1849--West Point, N. Y. Mc. thinks that he’s booked
for an infernally monotonous life for the remainder of his natural
existence and wishes he were back again in No. 2 Calle San Francisco.
August 25th, 1852--Solitary and alone on the “Columbus”--for New
Orleans.
December 25th, 1852--Solitary and alone at Indianola [Texas]! Heavens!
What a Christmas!
INDEX
Altamira, 50.
Anton Lizardo, Point, 52, 53.
Bankhead, Col., 66.
Beauregard, Lieut. P. G. T., 57, 63, 70.
Belton, Lieut.-Col., 54, 62.
Brazos de Santiago (Texas), 7, 8-9.
Brooks, N. C., quoted, 51 (note).
Buckner, Simon B., 77 (and note).
Camargo, 10-11, 13.
Campbell, Col., 82, 84-85.
Cerro Gordo, battle of, 79-90.
Chiltipine, 30-34.
Crawford, Dr. Samuel, 1.
Encero, 90, 91.
Encinal, 37.
Fordleone, 47, 48.
Foster, Lieut. J. G., 57, 58, 61, 63, 69, 70, 74, 75, 80.
Furber, George C., quoted, 27 (note).
Grant, U. S., quoted, 44 (note), 71 (note).
Guijano, 27.
Harney, 88-90.
Haskell, Col. William T., 83-84, 85.
Henry, Capt. Guy, 48, 50, 74.
Iturbide, Agustin de, 40.
Jalapa, 90-92.
Lee, Capt. R. E., 61, 63, 68, 71, 72, 79.
Lobos, Isle of, 51.
McCall, George A., 21, 33, 41.
McClellan, George B., birth and education, 1;
commissioned, 2;
promotion, 4;
leaves for Mexico, 7;
at Camargo and Matamoros, 10-14, 23-24;
march to Victoria, 24-43;
at Victoria, 43-46;
march to Tampico, 46-50;
at Lobos, 51;
at Vera Cruz, 53-73;
march to Cerro Gordo, 74-79;
battle of Cerro Gordo, 80-90;
march to Jalapa, 90-93;
at Mexico City, 92-93.
McMaster, J. B., quoted, 52 (note), 74 (note).
Malibran, 55, 56.
Marquesoto, 40.
Mason, Lieut. J. L., 63, 64, 65-66, 67, 70.
Matamoros, 10, 11, 12, 23.
Meade, George G., 5, quoted, 18 (note), 22 (note), 48 (note).
Moquete, 23, 27.
Murphy, 34, 39.
Padilla, 42.
Patterson, Gen. Robert, 14, 15, 16, 20-21, 22 (note), 23-24, 26, 27,
30, 31-32, 33, 35, 37, 40, 41, 43, 56.
Pillow, Gen. Gideon J., 15, 23, 25, 26, 35, 37, 52 (note), 79, 81-87.
Plan del Rio, 78-79.
Puerto Nacional, 77.
Quitman, Gen. John A., 44, 52 (note).
Rancho Padillo, 23.
Reilly, 89.
San Fernando, 33-34.
Santa Fé, 75-76.
Santander, 37.
Santa Rosa, 46.
Santa Teresa, 27-28, 29.
Saunders, Capt. John, 68, 69, 72.
Scott, Gen. Winfield, 52 (note), 70, 71 (note), 86, 87.
Semmes, R., quoted, 79 (note), 82 (note).
Shields, Gen. James, 52 (note), 88, 89, 90.
Smith, Lieut. Gustavus W., 2, 4, 7, 11, 20-21, 23, 25, 26, 31, 36,
38, 55, 57, 58, 59, 60-62, 63, 68, 74, 75, 78, 80, 93.
Smith, Major John L., 58.
“Songo,” 27-28, 30, 37, 42.
Stevens, Lieut. I. I., 63, 70, 72.
Stuart, “Jimmie,” 14, 73-74, 75-76, 78.
Swift, Capt. A. J., 2, 7, 11, 16, 55.
Tamaulipas, 51.
Tampico, 50-51.
Taylor, Gen. Zachary, 22 (note), 44.
Totten, Col. Joseph G., 2, 57-58, 61-62, 64, 66, 70.
Tower, Lieut. Z. B., 67, 78-81.
Twiggs, Gen. David E., 47, 48, 52, 56, 74, 79, 80, 82, 87-90.
Vera Cruz, siege of, 53-73.
Vergera, 74, 75.
Victoria, 43-46.
Vinton, Capt. John R., 58, 68.
Volunteers, 16, 18, 28-29, 36, 38-39, 43, 80.
Walker, Sears Cook, 1.
Waterhouse, Major, 36.
Williams, Seth, 15-16, 32.
Worth, Gen. William J., 52 (note), 53, 56, 58, 74, 75, 77, 78, 80, 86,
89, 90, 92.
Wynkoop, Col. Francis M., 82, 84, 86-87.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] In a letter to his brother “Tom” dated West Point, September 22,
1846, McClellan wrote: “We start with about 75 men--the best Company
(so Gen’l. Scott and Col. Totten both say) in the service. All
Americans--all young--all intelligent--all anxious, very eager for the
campaign--and above all, well drilled. If the Lord and Santa Anna will
only condescend to give us a chance--I’ll be most confoundedly mistaken
if we don’t thrash them ‘some’.” (_McClellan Papers_, Vol. I.)
[2] Gustavus W. Smith was one of McClellan’s most intimate friends and
was known by him by the nickname of “Legs.” He was born in Scott Co.,
Kentucky, on January 1, 1822. He died in New York on June 23, 1896.
Smith graduated from West Point in 1842. He entered the Confederate
Army in 1861 and distinguished himself in the Peninsular Campaign
fighting against his old friend at the battles of Seven Pines and Fair
Oaks.
[3] A town of some three thousand inhabitants, situated on the river
San Juan about three miles above its junction with the Rio Grande.
It is about one hundred miles by land from Matamoros. (See _Life and
Letters of General George Gordon Meade_, Vol. I, pages 109 and 119.)
[4] A letter from McClellan to his mother, dated “Camp off Camargo,
Mex.,” November 14, 1846, tells her that when he arrived at Matamoros
he was taken sick almost immediately. He remained sick for two weeks
while there and “whilst on the steamboat thence to Camargo” ... “When
we got here I went into hospital quarters whence I emerged yesterday,
so that I have had almost a month’s sickness, but now am perfectly
well.” He adds, “I would not have missed coming here for the world,
now that I am well and recovering my strength, I commence to enjoy the
novelty of the affair, and shall have enough to tell you when I return,
to fill a dozen books.” (_McClellan Papers_, Vol. I.)
[5] Later on McClellan wrote in the diary on a page otherwise blank:
“On the 18th June, 1851, at five in the afternoon died Jimmie Stuart,
my best and oldest friend. He was mortally wounded the day before by
an arrow, whilst gallantly leading a charge against a party of hostile
Indians. He is buried at Camp Stuart--about twenty-five miles south of
Rogue’s River [Oregon?], near the main road, and not far from the base
of the Cishion (?) Mountains. His grave is between two oaks, on the
left side of the road, going south, with J. S. cut in the bark of the
largest of the oaks.”
[6] Robert Patterson, born at Cappagh, County Tyrone, Ireland, on
January 12, 1792, died at Philadelphia, Pa., on August 7, 1881.
Came to America early in life and became a prominent merchant and
Democratic politician in Philadelphia. Served both in the War of 1812
and in the Mexican War and in 1861 was mustered into the service as a
major-general. He commanded the troops in the Shenandoah Valley and was
outwitted by General Joseph E. Johnston who slipped away in time to
join Beauregard and rout the Union forces under McDowell at the first
battle of Bull Run on July 21, 1861. Patterson was retired from the
army the same month.
[7] Tampico was captured November 14, 1846.
[8] Gideon J. Pillow was born in Williamson Co., Tennessee, on June
8, 1806. He died in Lee Co., Arkansas, on October 6, 1878. Pillow
was a prominent Tennessee politician and was active in securing the
presidential nomination for his intimate friend James K. Polk. In 1846
he was commissioned a brigadier general by Polk and went to the front
in command of the Tennessee volunteers. In 1861 he became a brigadier
general in the Confederate Army and is famous for having deserted
his forces at Fort Donelson on February 15, 1862, leaving them to be
surrendered to Grant the next day by his subordinate, General Simon B.
Buckner. Also see _Autobiography of Lieut.-Gen. Scott_, Vol. II, pages
416-417.
[9] Later a brigadier general in the Union Army. He was adjutant
general on McClellan’s staff and closely connected with him while in
command of the Army of the Potomac.
[10] The city was captured on September 24, 1846, after three days
fighting.
[11] “The people are very polite to the regulars ... but they hate
the volunteers as they do old scratch himself.... You never hear of
a Mexican being murdered by a regular or a regular by a Mexican. The
volunteers carry on in a most shameful and disgraceful manner; they
think nothing of robbing and killing the Mexicans.” Letter to mother,
dated “Camp off Camargo, Mex.,” November 14, 1846. (_McClellan Papers_,
Vol. I.)
“I believe with fifteen thousand regulars, we could go to the City of
Mexico, but with thirty thousand volunteers the whole nature and policy
of the war will be changed. Already are the injurious influences of
their presence perceptible, and you will hear any Mexican in the street
descanting on the good conduct of the ‘tropas de ligna,’ as they call
us, and the dread of the ‘volontarios.’ And with reason, they (the
volunteers) have killed five or six innocent people walking in the
streets, for no other object than their own amusement; to-be-sure, they
are always drunk, and are in a measure irresponsible for their conduct.
They rob and steal the cattle and corn of the poor farmers, and in fact
act more like a body of hostile Indians than of civilized whites. Their
own officers have no command or control over them, and the General has
given up in despair any hope of keeping them in order. The consequence
is they are exciting a feeling among the people which will induce them
to rise en masse to obstruct our progress, and if, when we reach the
mountains, we have to fight the _people_ as well as the soldiers, the
game will be up with us. I have some hope, however, that when we leave
this place, which has become a mass of grog-shops and gambling-houses,
and march to meet the enemy, the absence of liquor, and the fear of the
enemy, may induce a little order among them and bring them to a better
state of discipline.” Letter of George G. Meade, dated Matamoros,
July 9, 1846. (_Life and Letters of General George Gordon Meade_,
Vol. I, pages 109-110.) Meade wrote further, from Camargo, August 13,
1846: “Already have they in almost every volunteer regiment reported
one-third their number sick, and in many cases one-half the whole
regiment, and I fear the mortality will be terrible among them, for
their utter ignorance of the proper mode of taking care of themselves.
The large number of sick is a dead weight upon us, taking away so many
men as hospital attendants, requiring quarters, etc., and if taken sick
on the march, requiring transportation in wagons or on litters.” (Same,
page 121.) Also from Monterey, December 2, 1846: “The volunteers have
been creating disturbances, which have at last aroused the old General
[Taylor] so much that he has ordered one regiment, the First Kentucky
foot, to march to the rear, as they have disgraced themselves and
their State.... The volunteers cannot take any care of themselves; the
hospitals are crowded with them, they die like sheep; they waste their
provisions, requiring twice as much to supply them as regulars do. They
plunder the poor inhabitants of everything they can lay their hands
on, and shoot them when they remonstrate, and if one of their number
happens to get into a drunken brawl and is killed, they run over the
country, killing all the poor innocent people they find in their way,
to avenge, as they say, the murder of their brother. This is a true
picture, and the cause is the utter incapacity of their officers to
control them or command respect.” (Same, pages 161-162.)
For further testimony of the same character see Luther Giddings,
_Sketches of the Campaign in Northern Mexico_, pages 81-85; William
Jay, _Review of the Mexican War_, pages 214-222; J. J. Oswandel, _Notes
on the Mexican War_, page 114. Also see postea, page 37.
[12] George A. McCall was born in Philadelphia, Pa., on March 16, 1802,
and died there on February 25, 1868. He graduated from West Point
in 1822. McCall was made a brigadier general in 1861 and placed in
command of the Pennsylvania Reserves. He distinguished himself in the
Peninsular Campaign under the command of McClellan at the battles of
Mechanicsville, Gaines’s Mill and Frazier’s Farm.
[13] Meade, in a letter dated “Monterey, November 10, 1846,” wrote
in explanation of this move as follows: “The cabinet at Washington,
profiting by the history of the Aulic Council, is manoeuvering his
(Taylor’s) troops for him, and at Washington, entirely independent of
his wishes and views, organizing expeditions for Tampico, even going
so far as to designate the troops and their commanders. To-be-sure, it
is well understood how this is done, by the mighty engine of political
influence, that curse of our country, which forces party politics into
everything.
“General Patterson and others are good Democrats; they are indignant
that General Taylor should have left them in the rear when he carried
more troops than he could feed. They complain at Washington, and
forthwith General Patterson and Co. are directed to proceed against
Tampico, and General Patterson informed before his commanding general
knows anything about it. Well may we be grateful that we are at war
with Mexico! Were it any other power, our gross follies would have been
punished severely before now.
“General Taylor, of course, has to succumb, and the Tampico expedition
is to be immediately prosecuted. General Patterson goes from
Camargo.... He marches direct to Tampico. General Taylor, however,
does not design that he shall have it in his power, from ignorance or
other causes, to fail; therefore he will leave here with a column of
some two thousand men and artillery, light and heavy, and will join
General Patterson before he reaches Tampico, when both columns united,
and under General Taylor’s command, will operate against the town, in
conjunction with the navy, if the latter have it in its power to do
anything.” (_Life and Letters of G. G. Meade_, Vol. I, page 152.)
[14] i. e., General Patterson.
[15] Aide to General Patterson.
[16] Surgeon on General Patterson’s staff.
[17] A Mexican servant.
[18] George C. Furber, in his _Twelve Months Volunteer; or Journal of
a Private in the Campaign in Mexico_, gives in chapters VIII and IX
(pages 275-393) a lively account of this same march, in which he took
part, from Matamoros to Victoria and Tampico. He describes many of the
events noted by McClellan, but from the standpoint of an enthusiastic
and self-confident member of the volunteer forces.
The contemptuous sting in McClellan’s frequent references to “mustangs”
can be appreciated from the following. Says Furber (page 376):
“The ‘mustang cavalry’--a description of force unknown to the army
regulations ... accompanied us from Victoria.--It was composed of
numbers from the three regiments of infantry. Any one that could raise
the means to buy a long-eared _burro_ (jackass), or a mule, or old
Mexican horse, or any such conveyance, immediately entered the mustang
cavalry. Such animals could be bought for from three to five dollars.
Some of the riders had procured Mexican saddles, with their horsehair
housings and bridles also; while some had bridles, but no saddles;
others had saddles without bridles; while others, again, had neither.
Here was a soldier large as life, with his musket in his hand, on a
little jackass, without saddle or bridle, and so small that the rider
had to lift his feet from the ground;--the little _burro_ jogged along
with him, occasionally stopping to gather a bite of grass.”
[19] McClellan’s small brother and sister.
[20] Agustin de Iturbide was born in Spain on September 27, 1783, the
son of a Spanish noble. He entered the army and attained a high and
responsible position in the Spanish administration of Mexico. In 1821
he advocated the celebrated “Plan of Iguala,” in which it was proposed
that Mexico should become independent under the rule of a member of
the Spanish royal family. Ferdinand VII regarded the movement as a
rebellion, and Iturbide himself was proclaimed emperor as Agustin I in
May, 1822, and crowned the following July.
A rebellion immediately broke out against his authority under the lead
of Santa Anna, who proclaimed a republic at Vera Cruz. Iturbide was
forced to abdicate in March, 1823, and went to Europe. He returned to
Mexico the following year but was arrested and shot at Padilla on July
19, 1824.
[21] Sappers, soldiers employed in the building of fortifications,
field works, etc. (_Century Dict._)
[22] “General Taylor never wore uniform, but dressed himself entirely
for comfort. He moved about the field in which he was operating to
see through his own eyes the situation. Often he would be without
staff officers, and when he was accompanied by them there was no
prescribed order in which they followed. He was very much given to sit
his horse sideways--with both feet on one side--particularly on the
battlefield.... Taylor was not a conversationalist, but on paper he
could put his meaning so plainly that there could be no mistaking it.
He knew how to express what he wanted to say in the fewest well chosen
words, but would not sacrifice meaning to the construction of high
sounding sentences.” U. S. Grant, _Memoirs_, Vol. I, pages 138-139.
[23] David E. Twiggs was born in Richmond Co., Georgia, in 1790. He
served in the war of 1812, and in the Mexican War became a brigade and
division commander under General Scott. In February, 1861, he was in
command of the Department of Texas, but surrendered his forces, with
the military stores under his charge, to the Confederates. On March 1,
1861, Joseph Holt, Secretary of War, issued “General Order No. 5” as
follows,--“By the direction of the President of the United States, it
is ordered that Brig. Gen. David E. Twiggs, major-general by brevet,
be, and is hereby, dismissed from the Army of the United States, for
his treachery to the flag of his country, in having surrendered,
on the 18th of February, 1861, on the demand of the authorities of
Texas, the military posts and other property of the United States in
his department and under his charge.” (_Official Records, War of the
Rebellion, Series I_, Vol. I, page 597.)
Twiggs was appointed a major-general in the Confederate Army, and died
at Augusta, Georgia, on September 15, 1862.
[24] “The correspondent of the ‘Spirit of the Times,’ G. de L., is
Captain [Guy] Henry, of the Third Infantry, a classmate of mine at West
Point, a very good fellow, and I notice his recent productions since
our march from Camargo have been quite spirited.” Meade, _Life and
Letters_, Vol. I, pages 167-168.
[25] “McClellan’s sobriquet in Mexico, among his intimate friends, was
‘Polance’ (sugar). On the march, when [he] first arrived, he insisted
upon eating a lot of the sugar arranged on even cobs and persuading
his companions to eat it too. He was always fond of sweet things. They
all became ill in consequence, and he more than any of them. After
that they addressed him as ‘Polance’ for he kept saying,--‘Why it’s
Polance, the _best_ sugar--it can’t hurt anyone’.” (Note in writing of
McClellan’s daughter, _McClellan Papers_, Vol. 108.)
[26] “Tampico is a delightful place, having fine cafes, and all the
luxuries of a somewhat civilized town.... I find the place much larger
than I expected, and really quite delightful. There is a large foreign
population of merchants, and in consequence the town has all such
comforts as good restaurants, excellent shops, where everything can be
purchased, and is in fact quite as much of a place as New Orleans. It
is inaccessible, owing to a bar, having only eight feet of water, and
as this is the season of ‘Northers,’ already many wrecks have taken
place.” Meade, _Life and Letters_, Vol. I, pages 175 and 177.
[27] “You can form no idea of the pleasure it gave us to meet the
regulars after having been so long with the cursed volunteers.... I
am tired of Tampico for I like to be in motion.--You have no idea of
the charm and excitement of a march--I could live such a life for
years and years without becoming tired of it. There is a great deal of
hardship--but we have our own fun. If we have to get up, and start long
before daybreak--we make up for it, when we gather around the campfires
at night--you never saw such a merry set as we are--no care, no
trouble--we criticize the Generals--laugh and swear at the mustangs and
volunteers, smoke our cigars and drink our brandy, when we have any--go
without when we have none.” (Letter to Mother dated Tampico, February
4, 1847. (_McClellan Papers_, Vol. I.)
[28] The Isle of Lobos is “a lovely little spot, formed entirely of
coral, about two miles in circumference, twelve miles from the Mexican
shore, sixty from Tampico, and one hundred and thirty from Vera Cruz.”
N. C. Brooks, _History of the Mexican War_, page 295.
It was at the Isle of Lobos that General Scott organized his army.
The regulars were divided into two brigades, commanded by Generals
William J. Worth and David E. Twiggs respectively. General Robert
Patterson commanded the division of volunteers which was composed of
the three brigades of Generals Gideon J. Pillow, John A. Quitman and
James Shields. All told, Scott’s army numbered over 12,000 men. J. B.
McMaster, _History of the People of the United States_, Vol. VII, page
506; James Schouler, _History of the United States_, Vol. V, page 42.
[29] The island of Sacrificios, three miles south of Vera Cruz.