hardy and energetic young fellows of Missouri, and as early as June
6 volunteers were hurrying into the service at Fort Leavenworth--a
square of wooden buildings, with a blockhouse at each corner and a plot
of grass in the middle--which crowned a high bluff on the Missouri
River about 312 miles from St. Louis; and about 1660 troops were soon
assembled at that point. Of Kearny's dragoons there were some 300. The
First Regiment of Missouri Mounted Volunteers--which chose Alexander
W. Doniphan as colonel--numbered about 860. The artillery, including
nearly 250 men, consisted of "Battery A" of St. Louis under Captain
Weightman and a company under Captain Fischer, a graduate of the
Prussian artillery service, and formed a battalion commanded by Major
M. L. Clark, a West Pointer.[14.3] There were also two small companies
of volunteer infantry, a St. Louis mounted body of about one hundred
called the Laclede Rangers, which Kearny attached to his regulars, about
fifty Delaware and Shawnee Indians, and finally, though by no means
last in importance, a Roman Catholic priest familiar with the Spanish
language.[14.4]
Without lingering to complete the outfit, Kearny sent the command off
by sections. June 5 a detachment of the dragoons advanced. By the
twenty-eighth all of Doniphan's regiment were on the march for Santa Fe
and--none of them cared how much farther; and two days later Weightman's
fine brass cannon, gleaming radiantly in the bright sunshine, wheeled
into the trail. For several days the troops had to break their way
through a rough country, but about fifteen miles south of the Kansas
River they struck the Santa Fe road, a broad, well marked, natural
highway running toward the southwest.[14.6]
Council Grove, the famous rendezvous of Indians and frontiersmen, was
the last place from which a single person could safely return; and now
for nearly four weeks not one "stick of timber" was to cheer the eye.
After pressing on in the same direction to the Arkansas, the troops
left the main trail, marched wearily along the northern bank of the
river--ascending about seven feet in each mile--till they were beyond
the great bend, and finally, crossing the shallow stream, turned their
faces toward Bent's Fort, a protected trading post, which stood near
the present site of Las Animas, Colorado, about 650 miles from Fort
Leavenworth. Belts had been tightened over and over again by this time.
Drinking water that no horse would touch had sickened many a tough
rider. Mosquitos and buffalo gnats had tormented the flesh day and
night. Faces had been scorched by siroccos, and tongues had swollen
with thirst. Many had become so tired that a rattlesnake in the blanket
seemed hardly worth minding, and so utterly wretched that in blind fury
they sometimes raved and cursed like maniacs. Out of one hundred fine
horses belonging to Battery A sixty had perished. Yet in places there
had been cool breezes, carpets of brilliant and spicy flowers, great
herds of buffalo, curious mirages, and inspiring glimpses of Pike's
Peak, the towering outpost of the Rockies.[14.6]
At length on July 29 Kearny escorted by Doniphan's regiment gained the
rendezvous, a grassy meadow on the Arkansas about nine miles below the
Fort. There within a few days the Army of the West assembled,[14.5] and
two additional companies of the dragoons, which had made an average of
twenty-eight miles a day from Fort Leavenworth, joined their regiment.
Nor were the troops alone. Several merchants had left Independence about
the first of May. Notified by order of the government that war had
begun, they had stopped here; and the Colonel found under his protection
more than four hundred wagons and merchandise worth upwards of a
million.[14.6]
Armijo, for his part, had received ample warnings. In March the central
government informed him that war might be expected, and authorized
him to make preparations for defence. By June 17 news of the coming
invasion reached Santa Fe, and nine days later the first caravan of the
season confirmed it. Manuel Alvarez, the American consul, endeavored
now to persuade Armijo that it would "be better for himself and the
people under his government to capitulate, and far preferable" to
become Americans than to be citizens of a country so disordered and so
impotent as Mexico; but while his advisers and subordinates fancied
they could obtain offices under an elective system, and "were rather
easily won over," the governor himself probably could not believe that
people so long robbed and oppressed would choose the wolf as their
shepherd. Besides, he doubtless had some national spirit and some
desire to justify his gratuitous title of general. After confirming
the news further by a spy, he sent south on July 1 an appeal for
aid--representing the Americans as 6000 in number--and began to prepare
for defence. A letter from Ugarte, the comandante general of Chihuahua,
stating that he could set out on a moment's notice with five hundred
cavalry and as many infantry, seemed encouraging, and no doubt Armijo
was aware that Durango, too, had been ordered by the authorities at
Mexico to aid him.[14.7]
Meanwhile reinforcements for Kearny were gathering in his rear. On the
third of June Marcy informed the governor of Missouri that if Sterling
Price, then a member of the Missouri legislature, and certain other
citizens of the state would raise and organize a thousand mounted
men--that is to say, a regiment and a battalion--to follow Kearny
promptly, they would be appointed to the chief commands. This method of
getting troops aroused considerable opposition among the people, for it
ignored the militia system and the aspirations of the militia officers,
and many felt that a politician like Price was unfit for the command;
but young men were ready to volunteer under any sort of conditions that
promised a chance to reach the front, and about the time Kearny left
Fort Bent this new force, including artillery under regular officers,
was mustered into the service at Fort Leavenworth.[14.8]
At the same time steps were taken to obtain reinforcements of a totally
different character. A large number of Mormons, recently driven from
Nauvoo, Illinois, had gathered at Council Bluffs, and were planning
to settle in California. It was important that feelings of hostility
toward this country should not prevail among them, and apparently their
assistance, not only on the coast but in New Mexico, might be valuable.
Kearny was therefore authorized to accept a body of these emigrants
not larger than a quarter of his entire force, and about five hundred
of them were enlisted in June and taken to Fort Leavenworth by Captain
Allen of the First Dragoons. Allen soon died, but under Lieutenant Smith
of the same regiment this party marched for Santa Fe.[14.8]
On July 31 Kearny issued a proclamation, which declared that he was
going to New Mexico "for the purpose of seeking union with, and
ameliorating the condition of its inhabitants," urged them to follow
their usual vocations, and promised that all who should pursue this
course would be protected in their civil and religious rights; and
the next day he addressed Armijo in the same strain, telling him that
resistance would not only be in vain, but would cause the people to
suffer, and adding that submission would be greatly for his interest and
for theirs.[14.9] Captain Cooke of the dragoons was made the bearer
of this communication, and with an escort of twelve picked men he went
forward under a white flag.[14.16]
August 1 the "long-legged infantry," who were almost able to outmarch
the cavalry, left the rendezvous, and on the following day the so-called
army was all in motion. After crossing the Arkansas a little way above
the Fort, it soon turned off to the southwest, and followed in general
the line of the present Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad. Before
long the troops found on the right a high range of mountains, thrusting
up twin peaks into the region of perpetual snow, while the gleaming
wall of the far Rockies came every day nearer; and on the left gazed
over wide plains--broken with ridge, plateau or butte--which stretched
away toward the east, until one could not say where earth and sky met.
Near the present boundary of New Mexico began the ascent of Raton Pass;
and the men, winding up the rugged valley, discovered most beautiful
flowers. But they were hardly in a condition to enjoy them, for the
rations--cut down one half or more--consisted of flour stirred up in
water, fried, and eaten with a little pork; and the implacable Kearny,
an embodiment of energy and resolution, hurried them along by marches
that were almost incredibly hard. What lay ahead nobody knew. It was
not even certain that the present scanty rations would hold out. But
the watchword was always, Forward; and even the magnificent views at
the summit of the Pass, where Raton Mountain upreared a series of
castellated pinnacles somewhat like those of the Ichang gorge on the
upper Yangtse River, attracted but little attention.[14.16]
[KEARNY'S POLITICAL ACTION]
August 15, at the new and unimportant village of Las Vegas began
Kearny's political work. From the flat roof of a house the General--for
his commission as brigadier general had now overtaken him--said to
the people substantially this: "For some time the United States has
considered your country a part of our territory, and we have come to
take possession of it. We are among you as friends--not as enemies;
as protectors--not as conquerors; for your benefit--not your injury.
I absolve you from all allegiance to the Mexican government and to
Armijo.[14.10] They have not defended you against the Indians, but
the United States will. All who remain peaceably at home shall be
safeguarded in person and in property. Their religion also shall be
protected. A third of my army are Roman Catholics. I was not brought
up in that faith myself, yet I respect your creed, and so does my
government. But listen! If any one promises to be quiet and is found in
arms against me, I will hang him. Resistance would be useless. There are
my soldiers, and many more are coming. You, then, who are in office will
now take the oath of allegiance to the United States, and I will support
your authority."[14.16]
Tecolote also, at the bottom of the valley, witnessed a scene of this
kind; and the next day, crossing the swift Pecos, Kearny followed a
similar course at the red adobe town of San Miguel. Here the alcalde
said he would rather wait until after the capture of Santa Fe. "It is
enough for you to know, Sir, that I have captured your town," was the
stern reply. Doubtless, in their muddled way, the people wondered at
this first illustration of liberty; but with characteristic politeness,
timidity and guile they wrinkled their faces as if pleased. In spite of
orders and sentinels the fields of waving corn, full of ears just prime
for roasting, suffered a little; but Kearny paid for the damage, and
that at least was appreciated.[14.16]
By this time officers sent forward to learn the state of public
sentiment at the city of Taos, an important seat of the Pueblo Indians,
and at Santa Fe had returned with unwelcome reports, and several
American residents had brought warnings of danger. The activity of
Mexican spies--kindly treated when captured, and in some cases released
at once with friendly messages--proved that Armijo was alert; and on
August 14 his reply to the note sent by Cooke, while proposing that
Kearny halt and that negotiations be opened, informed the General that
the people were rising _en masse_ to defend the province, and that
Armijo would place himself at their head.[14.11] Fifteen hundred
dragoons had reached or were near Santa Fe, it was reported; and at a
natural gateway, cutting a ridge about four hundred feet high, a hostile
force was said to be waiting. On hearing this news all the weary men
and their drooping steeds came to life. The banners and guidons were
unfurled. "To horse!" blared the trumpets; "Trot! Gallop! Charge!" And
with sabres glittering under a brilliant sun the troopers dashed round a
sharp turn into the pass, while the artillery thundered after them, and
the infantry scrambled over the ridge. Not an enemy was found; but the
reports agreed that Apache Canyon, some distance farther on, would be
stiffly and strongly defended.[14.16]
This was extremely serious news. To march nearly 2000 soldiers eight
or nine hundred miles through a wilderness involved fearful risks,
and the expedition was now at the breaking point. The men had become
travel-worn and half-starved; many, if not all, were suffering from
the effects of the water, loaded with acrid salts, which they had been
drinking; the horses generally were on their last legs; and hundreds of
horses and mules actually could not march another day. It had already
been necessary to attach cattle to the ammunition wagons, and the
cannon were now dragged along with extreme difficulty. The provisions
had practically been exhausted. And here lay a defile seven or eight
miles long, guarded by several thousand militia, a force of regulars and
considerable artillery.[14.16]
[CROSS-CURRENTS]
As these facts indicate, the New Mexicans did not seem willing to
justify Polk's expectations. Whatever Armijo's own opinions, public
sentiment appeared to demand action. There existed a good deal of
warlike spirit in the province, and naturally the prospect of an armed
invasion excited resentment. The ignorant and suspicious people were
easily persuaded, after their hard experience under Mexican rule, that
the Americans were coming to take their property; and the priests added,
that besides abusing the women these ruffians would brand them on the
cheek as mules were branded. August 8 the governor therefore issued
a proclamation, summoning the people to take up arms in the cause
of "sacred independence"; the prefect of Taos and presumably other
local authorities followed his example; and several thousand of the
people,[14.12] Mexicans or Indians, many of them armed only with bows
and arrows, clubs or lariats, but all apparently eager to fight, were
placed at Apache Canyon under Colonel Manuel Pino.[14.16]
At this juncture, however, Cooke, a Chihuahua merchant named González
and one James Magoffin, a jovial and rich Kentucky Irishman, prominent
in the caravan trade and long a resident of Chihuahua, arrived at
Santa Fe. Magoffin had been introduced by Senator Benton to Polk,
and after some talk had consented to act as a sort of informal
commissioner to Armijo in the interest of peaceful relations. He now
argued, according to the very reasonable statement of the governor,
that American rule would enhance the price of real estate and make New
Mexico prosperous.[14.13] Undoubtedly he dwelt upon the impossibility
of successful resistance; and probably he suggested--though Armijo's
avarice required no hint on this point--that should cordial feelings
prevail, the duties on the approaching merchandise, a fortune in
themselves, would be paid at the Santa Fe customhouse, where the
governor could handle them.[14.16]
On the other hand, no aid was coming from the south. The 1500 dragoons
were not even phantasmal. Ugarte's cheering statement that he could
bring 1000 men to New Mexico had no doubt been intended, and no doubt
was understood, as mere stimulation. According to the latest returns,
New Mexico, Chihuahua, Durango and Zacatecas together had less than
2000 poorly equipped and poorly subsisted troops, the greater part of
whom were the scattered and almost worthless Presidials. The general
government, when officially notified of the coming invasion, merely
issued a few nugatory orders and expressed "profound regret." The
people's loyalty to the government and especially to the governor
appeared uncertain. Armijo understood that he was not a general, and
no doubt understood also that he was a coward; and for all these
reasons he decided--though wavering to the end--that hostilities were
to be avoided, should that be possible. Diego Archuleta also, one of
the chief military officers, was approached by Magoffin, and under
genial manipulation proved to be much less bloodthirsty than had been
supposed. Consul Alvarez, it will be recalled, had previously found
the subordinate officials tractable, and it may safely be supposed in
general that very little desire to fight the Americans existed in the
governor's entourage.[14.16]
Pino seems to have felt differently, however, and when Armijo was on the
road to the canyon, August 16, with two or three hundred soldiers and
about eight guns, he received a message from that officer threatening to
come and fetch him, if he did not join the militia. This augured ill,
and the augury proved correct. The people demanded to be led against
the enemy, but Armijo said the Americans were too strong. Pino offered
to attack if he could have a part of the regulars, but the governor
was determined to keep them all for his own protection. Then he was
called a traitor, and retaliated by calling the people disloyal and
cowardly. They threatened him; and he, more afraid of his own army than
of Kearny's, urged the militia to go home and let the regulars do the
fighting. Threatened again, he forbade the people to come near his camp;
and finally he turned his cannon in their direction.[14.16]
In reality the people themselves had no great hunger for battle.
Besides detesting Armijo, they were doubtless influenced by much
lurking anti-Mexican or pro-American sentiment; had probably learned to
question the diabolical intentions attributed to Kearny's troops; were
fully aware in a general way of American superiority; and felt deeply
impressed by tales about the great number of the invaders, their long
train, their many guns, their enormous horses and the terrible men
themselves--an army, in short, such as they had never dreamed of before.
The quarrels of their leaders both disgusted and disheartened them; and
they began to think, too, of their lives, families and property. August
17, therefore, they broke up, and went every man his own way. A council
of the regular officers favored retreat. The Presidials deserted or
were dismissed; the cannon were spiked and left in the woods; and in
about two weeks Armijo--though offered personal security and freedom at
Santa Fe--turned up at Chihuahua with ninety dragoons. He had proved not
exactly a traitor, perhaps;[14.14] but certainly not a patriot, and
still more certainly, if that was possible, not a hero.[14.16]
[OPPOSITION COLLAPSES]
The result was that on August 17 a fat alcalde rode up to Kearny on his
mule at full speed, and with a roar of laughter cried, "Armijo and his
troops have gone to hell and the Canyon is all clear." The news was
confirmed; and early the next day, instead of turning the pass by a
difficult and circuitous route, of which the General had learned, the
Americans advanced boldly, though still with caution, on their last hard
march--twenty-eight miles to Santa Fe. Just beyond the defile, at a
position that might easily have been made impregnable, were found light
breastworks, a sort of abatis, a spiked cannon, and tracks which guided
some of Clark's men to the rest of Armijo's ordnance. At three o'clock,
after receiving a note of welcome from Vigil, the acting governor,
General Kearny, riding at the head of the troops, came in sight of the
town. Neither man nor beast had been allowed to stop for food that day,
and the column dragged heavily; but the rear was up three hours later,
and then, leaving the artillery on a commanding hill, the rest of the
troops eagerly entered Santa Fe.[14.16]
Alas, the Mecca of so many dreams and hopes was promptly rechristened
"Mud Town," for it proved to be only a straggling collection of adobe
hovels lying in the flat sandy valley of a mountain stream, where a main
line of the Rockies came to an end amidst a gray-brown, dry and barren
country.[14.15] Even the palace, a long one-story adobe building, had
no floor; and after partaking of refreshments, addressing the people
in his usual tone of mingled courtesy and firmness, and listening to
the salute of thirteen guns which greeted the raising of the Stars and
Stripes, Kearny had to sleep on its carpeted ground, while most of the
troops, too exhausted to eat, camped on the hill.[14.16]
[NEW MEXICO OCCUPIED]
The next day Kearny delivered a more formal address, but the style of
his remarks was the same as before; and his kindly, simple, determined
manner produced an excellent impression. Thundering vivas answered him;
and then Vigil, basing his remarks on the conviction that "no one in the
world has resisted successfully the power of the stronger," expressed
a joyless yet hopeful acceptance of the situation. We now belong
to a great and powerful nation, he said, and we are assured that a
prosperous future awaits us. Such of the officials as desired to retain
their places then took an oath of allegiance to the United States. The
following day chiefs of the Pueblo Indians came in and submitted, and on
the twenty-second Kearny issued a proclamation. This embodied the same
assurances and warnings as the addresses, but it added that western as
well as eastern New Mexico was to be occupied, that all the inhabitants
were claimed as American citizens, and that a free government would be
established as soon as possible.[14.17]
By this time a fort, named after Marcy, had begun to be visible on
the hill. The site was not well adapted for a regular work; but as it
commanded the town perfectly at a distance of about six hundred yards
from the palace, and was not commanded by any eminence, it served the
purpose admirably. One point, however, still caused anxiety. There
seemed to be danger that the Río Abajo district, supported by troops
from the south, might rise against the invaders; and reports came that
pointed toward precisely such an event. Kearny went down the river,
therefore, on September 2 with seven hundred men. But he found no enemy.
The Americans were everywhere well received and entertained. Ugarte
had indeed left El Paso del Norte for New Mexico on August 10, but his
troops numbered only four hundred; they had little ammunition and no
artillery; Armijo discouraged him by saying that 6000 Americans were
on their way south; the prospect of marching eighteen days--a part of
the time in a desert--was not inviting; and so the expedition went
home. Kearny returned to Santa Fe on September 11, and about noon on
the twenty-fifth he set out with his effective dragoons for California,
dreaming of a new conquest.[14.17]
XV
CHIHUAHUA
December, 1846-May, 1847
Foreseeing that more troops would go to Santa Fe than New Mexico
would require, Kearny had written to General Wool on August 22 that
he would have the surplus join that officer at Chihuahua,[15.1] and
shortly before marching for the coast he gave orders that Price with
his command, Clark's artillery, a part of the Laclede Rangers and the
two companies of infantry should hold Santa Fe, and that Doniphan's men
should execute this plan; but on October 6 an order was received from
him that Doniphan should first ensure the security of the people by
settling matters with the Eutaw and Navajo Indians. September 28 Price
arrived, and by the twentieth of October, 1220 new Missouri volunteers
and 500 Mormons were on the scene. The Eutaws had now been reduced,
it was believed, to a peaceable frame of mind; and while the warlike
and superior Navajos proved a harder problem, a remarkable seven-weeks
campaign amid snow and mountains, which ended with a treaty, seemed to
ensure their good behavior. The caravans bound for Chihuahua, becoming
alarmed, had now stopped at Valverde, a point not far south of the
wretched settlement named Socorro, and begged for protection. Without
losing time, therefore, Doniphan concentrated his force at Valverde by
December 12, and with 856 effectives, all mounted and armed with rifles,
prepared to set out on a long, adventurous march into an unknown and
hostile country.[15.6]
[DONIPHAN AND HIS MEN]