The opportunities for defence were excellent. Lying encompassed--except
on the north and east--with steep, high spurs of the Sierra Madre, where
the Saltillo road and the small but swift Santa Catarina River debouched
from Rinconada Pass, the city formed a sort of rectangle somewhat more
than a mile in length from east to west and about nine squares wide
at the broadest. Only a short distance from the western end rose high
and steep foothills, and some of these were now crowned with redoubts.
Along the southern side the river and its high, rough bank were almost
a sufficient protection; but they were supplemented with fortified
buildings and yard walls, barricades at the ends of the streets, and for
about half the way a solid parapet.[11.15]
The eastern part of the town was given special attention, for here
entered the principal roads from the north. In the city proper nearly
all the streets ran straight either at right angles or parallel, and
in each of the central ones now rose a double line of overlapping
barricades or breastworks of masonry, provided with embrasures and
with ditches. Outside these a series of redoubts was constructed; and
wherever the enemy seemed likely to come, the houses--almost always
one story high--were loopholed and provided with ammunition. As they
had been constructed very solidly of rubble-work, were protected with
strong doors and iron-barred windows, and had flat roofs (_azoteas_)
defended with sand-bags in addition to their stone parapets, they were
veritable fortresses. At the heart of the town stood the cathedral with
its elaborately carved façade, a chime in one spire and in the other a
clock. This became the general magazine. In front of it was the main
plaza, bounded on the western side by the prison; and beyond the prison
lay the market square.[11.15]
The north side of the town had even stronger protection. Within
12-pounder range of almost every part of the city stood a solid pile of
masonry, twenty-five or thirty feet high, blackened by time. This was
an unfinished cathedral; and, taking it as a donjon, Mejía's engineers
threw round its columns and buttresses a quadrangular bastioned
earthwork, intended for about thirty guns. The high parapet, eleven and
a half feet thick, was faced on both sides with a soft gray tufa, in
which cannon balls were expected to embed themselves. The ditch, though
not wide enough and not completely excavated, was twelve feet deep. A
garrison of four hundred with eight guns occupied the position; and
although the two small magazines were not adequately protected against
falling projectiles, and still other faults could be pointed out by
an expert, this fort, commonly known as the citadel, was a powerful
work, and, standing on a slight elevation, it could sweep the roads and
the plain east and north of the town. A sort of telegraph enabled its
commander, Colonel Uraga, to communicate with headquarters.[11.16]
Plenty of ammunition and an adequate store of provisions were
accumulated. General Requena labored indefatigably in repairing
discarded cannon, and about forty guns were found available. American
deserters, who either had been or had become skilful gunners, were on
hand to point some of them. There was one capital, underlying defect in
the whole plan of defence. To hold all the works firmly required a much
larger garrison than Ampudia had. More or less clearly the mistake was
understood; but the active coöperation of the cavalry and the reserves
was expected to offset it.[11.17]
Santa Anna's policy was not merely to give up indefensible towns, and
he ordered Ampudia to drive away all cattle that the Americans might
otherwise obtain, destroy provisions and make the water supply useless
whenever a place had to be abandoned, besides urging the inhabitants
to leave their homes on Taylor's approach, so as to show the Americans
and the world that Mexico could never be subdued; and Ampudia not only
endeavored to execute these instructions, but adopted measures of his
own to supplement the efforts of his troops. The people were ordered to
intercept messengers and convoys, capture small parties, and in every
possible way imitate the royalists of Spain, who had made the soldiers
of Napoleon so much trouble. Martial law went into effect, and thus
in addition to other advantages the authority of the indifferent or
disloyal governor was obliterated.[11.18]
Disloyalty and indifference among the people were combated at the
same time, as Ampudia informed the government, by a twofold policy of
"moderation" and "decisive energy," in which the second ingredient
appeared the more conspicuous. All the citizens of the region received
a summons to come and help defend the nation. Notice was publicly given
that any person voluntarily affording the enemy direct or indirect aid
would be shot; everybody was required to denounce offences of this kind;
and all authorities were ordered to inflict the penalty. A circular in
English inviting Americans to desert met our troops, and the inhabitants
were directed to succor and protect all such repentant foes. Taylor
had but a few regulars, Ampudia proclaimed, and the rest of his army
was "a mob of adventurers without valor or discipline." Moreover the
sacred cause of independence itself appealed for support, and could not
be ignored. "Soldiers," he cried, "Victory or death must be our only
motto." Thanks to this vigorous policy and the increased numbers of the
army at Monterey, by the middle of September the temper of the people
towards the Americans noticeably changed.[11.19]
[AMPUDIA UNDER A CLOUD]
In other respects, however, the General did not feel so well pleased.
In person large and strong, with a soldierly mustache and goatee and a
martial bearing, he figured well on horseback; but he was really small
and mean, and his measure had been taken. His obtaining the command
of the army--first at Matamoros and again recently--through political
intrigue was fairly well understood. Many attributed the disaster
of May 9 to his machinations against Arista. A dominant regard for
personal safety was known to be one of his characteristics. His chief
distinction, said the British minister at Mexico, arose from acts of
violence done in abuse of power, and he now acted out his disposition.
However the general public might be deceived, such a man could not
impress the officers by talking about a sacred cause and "victory or
death"; and old personal animosities against him supplemented the want
of confidence based on public grounds. One of the officers wrote bluntly
to him that the disgust and discouragement produced by the news of his
appointment could be seen plainly on the faces of nearly all. Complaints
against him were forwarded to the government. The press voiced this
hostile sentiment, and fresh enmities were rapidly engendered.[11.20]
Nor did military affairs prosper very well. The funds were scanty, and
that state of things could not fail to cause dissatisfaction. Ampudia's
appointing Ramírez, who understood tactics but not engineering, to
supervise the construction of works met with disapproval. Numerous
changes of policy had a similar reception. At first he adopted Mejía's
plan of attempting nothing serious in the field, and then he decided to
meet the enemy at Marín, some twenty miles from the city. A council was
held; and finally, as most of the officers opposed this project, it was
given up. Then another council decided to abandon certain incomplete
fortifications between the citadel and the western defences; and at
the instance of Ramírez a very important fort, the Tenería redoubt at
the eastern end of the town, was demolished. Such vacillation and such
waste, both moral and material, undermined the courage and confidence of
the garrison and stimulated its dissensions.[11.21]
At Cadereita, August 31, there were a thousand regular cavalry, and
they were ordered to attack five hundred Texan horse then at China; but
they accomplished nothing. The Americans march carelessly and in small
bodies, observers reported; they loosen their arms and stoop down to
drink at the first water; they sleep as if at home; they carry little
ammunition; and their muleteers are hoping the train will be attacked.
With such opportunities the six hundred troopers now under Canales were
expected to do something; but that astute leader merely gave reasons why
they could not. "Nothing, absolutely nothing will either the regular
cavalry or the auxiliaries do against the enemy," exclaimed Ampudia
bitterly; and on September 18 the whole mounted force of about three
thousand meekly retreated to the town, leaving the roads practically
open.[11.21]
[TAYLOR PRESSES FORWARD]
Early on September 12 all the pioneers of Taylor's army advanced from
Cerralvo to prepare the road for his artillery and wagons. Ahead of
them went a strange-looking company. Mounted on quick, tough horses
and marching at will, the men were dressed as they pleased; but they
agreed substantially on leggings, trousers belted round the waist,
coarse red or blue shirts, and either a buckskin cap or a soft felt hat.
Each carried a heavy rifle, a pouch of bullets, a large powderhorn and
a bowie knife, and some had Colt revolvers. At every saddle-bow hung
a braided lariat for a tether; and a bag of parched and pounded corn,
together with whatever else the rider thought he needed, was bound to
the saddle with thongs. This company was Captain McCulloch's rangers--a
part of the First Texas regiment--Taylor's finest body of scouts; and
they, assisted by a squadron of dragoons, covered the pioneers. On
the following three days the First, Second and Field Divisions moved
successively, carrying forty rounds of ammunition and rations for eight
days, besides what went as freight; and only the sick, with a guard of
two Mississippi companies, remained at Cerralvo.[11.22]
The spell of Mexico, that was to charm away so often the pains of a hard
existence, now fell upon the soldiers. The country became more fertile.
One broad plain shone with Spanish dahlias, and curious trees and plants
could be seen on all sides. Every few miles a stream of cool, sparkling
water leaped across the road. In the morning a curtain of gray, thinning
little by little, went slowly up at last, and revealed a world of hills,
edged with burnished gold, where one or two, catching the sun aslant on
a bare, crystalline side, would flash out amidst the lingering shadows
in all the colors of a diamond; while, farther on, lilac mountain rose
above lilac mountain and purple range looked over purple range until the
crowning peaks touched the firmament. In one town after another grapes,
figs and pomegranates delighted the eye, and, as an officer quoted to
himself,
"The air was heavy with the sighs of orange groves."
And finally, as night came on, the jagged blue sierras, growing almost
black, were silhouetted perhaps against a pale yellowish-green streaked
with crimson. A spice of danger added zest, for about a thousand Mexican
cavalry hovered constantly in the front, and once near Ramos McCulloch's
rangers got near enough to exchange shots with a party of them. But
Torrejón's men employed themselves principally in driving the Mexicans
from their homes under Santa Anna's and Ampudia's instructions; and
on September 17, after passing through Papagallos, the Americans now
marching with Taylor concentrated near Marín.[11.23]
Very early the next morning a bugle broke the silence of the camp; other
bugles answered it; the drums awoke; the fifes joined in; the army
sprang to its feet. As soon as possible the advance guard moved off. The
First Division followed at eight o'clock, and the others at intervals of
an hour. After sleeping that night at San Francisco the army, completed
by the arrival of the Texas Division, set out again at about sunrise
on the nineteenth. Since reaching Marín Taylor had rather come to the
conclusion that he would scarcely reach Saltillo on time--that first
he would have something to do at Monterey; and this opinion was now
confirmed. At about nine o'clock, accompanied by his staff and an escort
of Texas mounted men, he came to the edge of the plain, and passed on
down the gentle slope of the San Juan valley.[11.21]
In front lay a stretch of broken ground. Beyond it cattle were feeding
peacefully in green fields, and corn was ripening under a hot sun.
Farther away still lay Monterey, the holy city of the frontier, as if
in a niche of the vast sierra, its white houses partly hidden with
green and the spires of its cathedral soaring above; and now and then
the music of a bell, a bugle or a drum came faintly across the plain.
A little at the right could be seen the long, low line of the citadel
wall, surmounted by the dark bulk of the "donjon" and its flag of red,
white and green. But suddenly the tranquillity of the scene was broken.
A white puff rose from the fort, and a 12-pound ball tore up the dirt in
front of the General. Another dropped near him, and a body of Mexican
cavalry advanced. Hays's regiment of horse was ordered to charge; but
seeing the enemy retire as if to lure the Americans under the guns of
the fortress, Taylor recalled him.[11.24]
Meanwhile the rest of our troops, excited by the rolling echoes from
the mountains, pressed on. Some threw away their packs of cards, but
mostly the men joked, laughed, cheered each report from the citadel
guns, and shouted that they were going to a grand fandango at Monterey.
"No one discussed depots of supplies, base of communications, lines
of retreat, or strategic positions," we are told by General S. G.
French, then a lieutenant of artillery; "but every one knew that the
brave old soldier would fight the enemy, wherever he found them, to
the end." The victories at Palo Alto and the Resaca had filled the
men with confidence; and in this happy mood the army encamped about
three miles from the city at Walnut Grove (_Bosque de San Domingo_),
an extensive and beautiful group of pecans and live-oaks, watered by
large, pure springs, where pleasure parties of well-to-do Mexicans were
accustomed to enjoy themselves. The army now consisted, all told, of
some 3080 regulars and 3150 volunteers. About 1350 of the troops were
mounted men; and for artillery there were four field batteries, and
a pair of 24-pound howitzers, but no real siege ordnance except one
10-inch mortar. In the front lay a city of stone, protected with strong
and rather skilfully planned works, and guarded by an army larger than
Taylor's.[11.25]
XII
MONTEREY
September, 1846
[FIRST OPERATIONS AT MONTEREY]
At once American reconnoitring parties accompanied by engineers hurried
out (September 19), and both ends of the city were examined. Despite
the fire of the citadel, particular attention was paid to the western
fortifications, for the idea of turning them had already presented
itself. By ten o'clock that night Brevet Major Mansfield, the chief
engineer, returned to camp with five prisoners to be questioned and with
satisfactory evidence that the Saltillo road could be gained in spite of
the forts; and then a council decided to make the attempt.[12.1]
[Illustration: BATTLE OF MONTEREY DETAILED PLAN]
Evidently, however, this meant a severe struggle. Going three quarters
of a mile west from the main plaza of Monterey by the Saltillo route,
passing a cemetery, and keeping on about a mile and a quarter farther,
one found on a low eminence at the right a dilapidated but massive
stone building known as the Bishop's Palace, close below which stood
now a half-moon battery facing and commanding the town. Beyond this
redoubt, called La Libertad, the eminence became an ascending ridge,
and some three hundred yards from the Palace the ridge ended sharply
as the summit of an extremely steep height known by the Americans as
Independence Hill (_Loma de Independencia_), where a small sand-bag
redoubt had been constructed. Immediately west of this hill, what
was known as the Topo road left the Saltillo highway and struck off
toward one's right, and near the farther edge of this road a spur of
the mountain began to ascend. On the other side of the highway flowed
the Santa Catarina, passing by the city and joining the San Juan
some distance below. Farther to the left and parallel to the river
rose a high, bristling hill named Federation Ridge. At the western
end--the summit--of this ridge, which extended some distance beyond
La Libertad, stood a redoubt occupied by some eighty men; and about
six hundred yards to the east, in a depression of the ridge, was a
substantial masonry fort called El Soldado, armed with two 9-pounders,
which were dragged, before the fighting began, to the redoubt on the
summit.[12.2]
Meantime the Mexicans also were observing. It was generally believed
that Taylor had thirty guns, which meant a hard fight; but the soldiers
were excited and ready for battle. "The enthusiasm is great, the
determination greater, the desire to sacrifice ourselves for the sacred
rights of the nation unbounded," wrote the comandante general of Nuevo
León. But Ampudia--"the Culinary Knight," as Worth called him, who had
fried Sentmanat's head--already trembled. We have food for barely twenty
days, he reported to the government; the troops at San Luis Potosí
are few in number and little inclined to advance; through spies the
enemy are aware of these facts; they will gain the pass between here
and Saltillo, and from that position "it will be almost impossible to
dislodge them."[12.3]
Sunday morning all was bustle in the American camp, and at length,
a little before two o'clock, Hays and about 400 mounted Texans rode
away. A long sky-blue line of infantry followed them, and then another
line of men in dark-blue jackets and trousers with a red stripe down
the leg--Lieutenant Colonel Childs's Artillery Battalion. Blanchard's
Company of Louisiana volunteers, dressed in every sort of clothes and
carrying every sort of weapon, and Duncan's and Mackall's batteries with
their gleaming pieces and clattering caissons completed the detachment,
which included some 2000 men, all told. The rest of the army watched
their departure with keen interest, for their design looked well-nigh
desperate, and yet the fate of the campaign was believed to depend upon
it.[12.4]
Especially they watched the commander. In the usual undress uniform but
on a splendid horse, which he managed with consummate address, rode
Worth. He was a man of average height but noticeably strong, with a
trim figure and a strikingly martial air. Conversing easily with his
staff he seemed the elegant gentleman; but his face was stern, and
his restless dark eyes flashed. In war he found his element; and at
present behind his natural ardor burned a new flame. His withdrawing
from the army in April had injured both his prestige and his relative
position, and his motto now was, "A grade or a grave." His orders were
to turn Independence Hill, occupy the Saltillo highway, and so far as
practicable carry the works in that quarter; and no doubt he intended to
do more rather than less.[12.4]
Soon taking leave of the road, this command plunged into cornfields
and chaparral. Progress was difficult and slow. For the benefit of the
artillery, ditches had to be bridged or filled and brush fences opened.
The enemy promptly observed and understood the movement, and a body of
cavalry embarrassed it somewhat. Once they nearly surrounded the General
and his staff, who were some distance in advance; but after a time,
fearing his artillery, they withdrew to the citadel. Ampudia himself
rode to Independence Hill, watched the blue line a while, ordered one
hundred infantry to the summit, and had a 12-pounder and a howitzer
planted there.[12.5]
By six o'clock Worth made nearly or quite seven miles. He was now on
the Topo road; and, halting just beyond the range of the battery on
Independence Hill, he pushed a reconnoitring party toward the Saltillo
highway. Infantry and cavalry had now been posted, however, in that
vicinity. The party was fired upon; and, owing to this, to nightfall
and to the torrents of rain, its purpose was not accomplished until the
lateness of the hour prevented further operations. With great difficulty
the Americans were placed in a fairly defensible position; and without
fires, food, blankets or shelter, they lived through the stormy night as
best they could. By this time the rest of the Mexican cavalry had been
withdrawn from its position between the Bishop's Palace and the citadel,
and a part of it retired into the town.[12.6]
[AT THE WESTERN GATES]
Monday, a day of fate, broke heavy, dark and ominous. Dense clouds
covered the sky, and for a time a thick mist cut off the outlook. By
about six o'clock Worth moved, however, and, saluted occasionally
with harmless grape from Independence Hill, advanced by the Topo
road. Anticipating trouble, he arranged the column so as to be ready
for prompt action. The Texans led; Captain C. F. Smith and the light
companies of the Artillery Battalion, deployed as skirmishers, came
next; Lieutenant Colonel Duncan's battery was third; and the rest of the
command followed. Two or three hundred yards or so from the Saltillo
highway, at a turn round the mountain, some two hundred lancers could
be seen approaching. It was a gallant sight. The horses, though small,
showed plenty of spirit; many of the saddles were silver-mounted; the
cavaliers wore brilliant uniforms, and green and red pennons fluttered
gayly from their poised lances. At the head of the advance rode
Lieutenant Colonel Nájera, a tall, fine-looking trooper with a fierce
black mustache. Smith's corps and a part of the Texas riflemen were
thrown behind a strong fence; Duncan halted and unlimbered; and then,
like a whirlwind, Nájera struck McCulloch.[12.7]
The shock was terrible; and like a lion and a tiger grappling the two
bodies writhed and fought. The weight of the American horses proved
a great advantage, but numbers were on the other side. Nájera, after
running a Texan through with his lance, fell; but a gallant successor
took his place, and the soldiers proved worthy of him. Many lances were
shivered, and others, useless at close quarters, were dropped; but sword
and escopeta served instead. On our part Smith's infantry fired well,
and the Mexicans could not break through the fence.[12.7]
After recoiling a little they formed to charge again. Other troops of
Worth's came up, took post beside the road, and began work. A minute or
two more and Duncan, on higher ground, was firing over the Americans. By
this time Nájera's squadron was nearly accounted for; but behind it were
the rest of Romero's cavalry brigade and a party of infantry. However,
Mackall's battery was now coöperating with Duncan's and both did
splendidly. The Mexican foot withdrew instead of advancing. A part of
the cavalry soon retreated toward Saltillo and a part into the town; and
the brief but important struggle ended. Probably more than one hundred
Mexicans had been killed or wounded, while our own casualties appear to
have numbered about a dozen, and the way to the Saltillo highway lay
open. By a quarter past eight Worth's command was on this road; and
he reflected with exultation that the Mexican line of communication,
supply, reinforcement and retreat had been cut. Nor was that all or even
the best of it, he believed. "The town is ours," he scrawled in pencil
to the commander-in-chief. The battery on Independence Hill now became
active, however; and as Federation redoubt, of which the Americans had
not heard, began to drop round shot among our troops, they had to be
withdrawn about half a mile in the direction of Saltillo.[12.7]