Dorothy was in terror. We had been married so short a time. Our
happiness had been undisturbed. We had found such perfect enjoyment in
our home. We had taken such delight in the life of Chicago.
But Mother Clayton encouraged me with bright and admiring eyes. I felt
that I owed this service to Douglas. He had mapped out the boundaries of
Texas. Should I not carry the sword to defend and establish them? The
dream which was Douglas' had also taken possession of me.
Abigail saw nothing in the Mexican War beyond an ambition of the
Southern States to extend slavery. It was a fight for cotton. The
Eastern States did not like the war, the Whigs opposed the war. Illinois
had many enemies of the war.
But these were the facts: Mexico had announced that the annexation of
Texas would be considered an act of war. She had broken off diplomatic
relations with us when we offered to annex it. She had prepared to
resist the loss of Texas with force of arms. Our people were in Texas.
They could not be abandoned. "How did they get there?" asked Abigail.
"By pushing and adventuring where they did not belong."
President Polk had sent troops under General Taylor to defend Texas; he
had sent commissioners to Mexico to make a peaceable solution of the
dispute. Besides, he was anxious to get the Mexican province of
California, as Douglas was, including the wonderful bay and harbor of
San Francisco. Would Mexico sell them without a fight? Mexico had
declined. General Taylor was therefore ordered to advance to the Rio
Grande. There was war! Its shadow entered my household. Dorothy was in
tears. Mammy and Jenny were shaking with fear. For I had resolved to
enter the fight.
And Chicago was afire with the war spirit. The streets echoed to the
music of martial bands; orators addressed multitudes in various parts of
the city. Trade was stimulated. The hotels were thronged with people.
The restaurants were noisy with agitated talkers. Douglas' name was on
every one's tongue.
Volunteers had been called for. But Illinois could send but three
regiments; she offered six to the cause. Many companies were refused. I
organized a company, financing it myself. But it could not be taken, and
I joined the army under the colonelcy of John J. Hardin. He it was whom
Douglas had supplanted as state's attorney. Now he was to lead troops,
to the vindication of Douglas' dream.
Dorothy was inconsolable for my departure. She could not have sustained
the ordeal except for Mother Clayton. There were fear, anxiety, and
mystical foreboding in Dorothy's heart for a different reason. She was
soon to bear a child. She was loath to have me away from her in this
ordeal. Yet I had to go. A whole continent moved me; great forces urged
me forward. I was now an American. Martial blood stirred in me. All
concerns of home, of Dorothy, sank below the great vision of war. The
aggregate feelings and thoughts of a people make a superintelligence
which may be mistaken for God. Of this superintelligence Douglas' voice
was the great expression. I broke from Dorothy's arms, after vainly
attempting to console her.
The six Illinois regiments assembled at Alton, where I had been so many
times before. I was to see this town again in the most dramatic moment
of my life, how unimagined in this terrible time of war. We hurried on
to join General Taylor, who had already, as we learned later, won the
battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma. Characters later to figure
momentously in the history of the country were here to settle the title
of Texas with the sword. Robert E. Lee, a lieutenant, was brevetted for
bravery in the battles of Cerro Gordo, Contreras, Churubusco, and
Chapultepec. Captain Grant had come with a regiment and joined the
forces of General Taylor. He took part in the battles of Palo Alto,
Resaca de la Palma, and Monterey; and then being transferred to General
Scott's army, he served at Vera Cruz, Cerro Gordo, Churubusco, Molino
del Rey, and at the capture of Chapultepec. Here too was Colonel
Jefferson Davis, who led his valorous Mississippians, who put to flight
Ampudia at the battle of Buena Vista. Lee, Grant, Davis, Taylor, the
next President, all in arms for the ocean-bound republic of the young
Congressman from Illinois!
Our Illinois troops with those from other states, numbering in all 5000
men, proceeded to Monterey, thence to Buena Vista where we were
confronted by 20,000 Mexicans under the command of General Santa Anna,
who had no doubt of a speedy victory over us. On Washington's birthday,
Santa Anna sent a message to General Taylor to surrender, saying that he
did not wish to inflict useless slaughter. General Taylor declined, and
we fought.
I shall never forget my feelings, but how shall I describe them? My
nerves were tense; they rang taut with unexpended energy. I felt death
near me. I thought of Dorothy constantly, but I was living with fate.
The line of battle was formed where the valley was narrow. The lofty
mountains were on either side of us. Torrents had gullied the plain. The
Kentucky volunteers were posted at the left; the Indiana volunteers were
stationed near. Our regiment, together with a Texas company, formed the
remainder of the line which ran from the plain to the plateau. Extending
from these towards the mountains were placed other troops from Illinois,
from Indiana, and from Arkansas. Up the valley came Santa Anna, with his
20,000 Mexicans.
He had sent General Ampudia to climb the mountain and fall upon our
troops at the left. The battle began in the afternoon and lasted till
night.
At dawn Santa Anna advanced his troops in three columns in front of us.
And the battle began to rage. The Indiana troops retreated in disorder.
But the Illinoisians stood their ground, pouring forth sheets of flame
upon the Mexicans. We had to retreat. We were pressed back to the
narrows. Then General Taylor, hastening up, took command. Batteries were
opened. Grapeshot and canister were poured into the advancing Mexicans.
The cannon belched deadly fire. Colonel Davis had routed Ampudia at the
left. The Mexicans began to waver in front. We from Illinois and
Kentucky started in pursuit. We drove them into a deep ravine.
Here suddenly they were reënforced by 12,000 men. They shot us down like
sheep. It was a slaughterhouse. But we fought like madmen. Our riflemen,
the squirrel hunters of Kentucky and Illinois, picked off the Mexicans
unerringly. Our batteries began to thunder again. Again the Mexicans
broke order. They started to run. We pursued them through the valley,
under the shadows of the great mountain. Night came.... The silence of
night and of our victory.
We had won the battle! The Mexicans fled southward. Then we started to
bury our dead. Our losses were terrible. So many boys from Illinois were
hearsed in this bloody soil. Colonel Hardin was killed; but we were
commissioned to bring his body back to Jacksonville.
This ended the war in northern Mexico. But meanwhile, as President Polk
could not buy California, he seized it. He ordered an American squadron
to take San Francisco and other harbors on the California coast. He sent
General Kearney with a cooperating force to this end. Kearney occupied
the city of Santa Fe and organized a temporary government for New
Mexico. The President also sent General Scott against the city of Mexico
and Vera Cruz and Cerro Gordo. These were taken; but they were used only
as levers in the settlement.
What had been accomplished? We had fixed the Rio Grande as the Texas
boundary; we had added California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Wyoming,
and Utah to the American domain. With Oregon acquired Douglas'
ocean-bound republic was realized. Was it to prove his lasting triumph,
or his undoing?
I had been gone less than a year. I was eager to reach Chicago, but I
had to stop off at Jacksonville to help bury the body of Colonel Hardin.
We made his grave near the grave of my father and not far from
Lamborn's.
What had happened in my absence? How should I find the home that I had
left? If Dorothy should be dead, or Mother Clayton, or Mammy or Jenny?
I rang the bell. Jenny came to the door. She gave a cry. Mammy came
hurrying through the hall; then Mother Clayton, flinging her arms upward
in dumb delight. Then Dorothy, lovely in her young motherhood, carrying
our boy, the tears running down her cheeks. She could not speak. She
could only rub her cheek against mine, press her lips to mine, hold our
little boy's laughing and uncomprehending lips to mine. We cried. We
uttered broken words.
I entered. The door closed behind me. I was home. All was well. I sat
down. All looked at me. Jenny and Mammy loitered in the room. I wanted
to speak. But what had I to say? Nothing! Such happiness at being home!
So we sat until I broke the silence by asking: "When was the baby born?"
Mother Clayton replied: "He is five weeks old to-morrow." Then we all
laughed. We had broken this heavy silence with such simple words. And
after that, many words, much laughter; and later a wonderful meal
prepared by the delighted hands of Mammy and Jenny.