deserves to be mentioned. Care has been taken to bring out the quality
of Colonel Harney, and it only remains to add that for some time his
feelings toward Scott had been openly and unreasonably hostile. As he
was among the men ordered by Butler to the mouth of the Rio Grande,
he proceeded in that direction; but Scott, who knew of his excursion
to the Rio Grande and preferred to have a more efficient and reliable
man for his chief cavalry officer, and one more disposed to coöperate
heartily with the commander-in-chief, directed him to place at the
orders of Major Sumner the dragoons that had come down with him, and
rejoin those of Taylor's army. Harney refused positively to do so. Upon
this Worth laid a formal charge of disobedience against him, and a
court martial of officers, chosen--as General Scott proposed--by Harney
himself, sentenced him to be reprimanded in orders. Harney then wrote
a submissive letter to Worth; and Scott, remitting the sentence of the
court, gave him the position he coveted.[18.30]
This was magnanimous, and tended to promote good-will; but there is
more to tell. On learning of Scott's order that Harney should return
to Monterey Polk, though he insisted that his own subordinates in the
army must be in cordial sympathy with him, became very angry that "a
Democrat" and "one of General Jackson's personal friends" should "be
sacrificed to propitiate the personal and political malice of General
Scott," and insisted upon countermanding the order, thereby violating
the confidence promised that general and disregarding the broad
instructions issued to him by the war department.[18.29] However, the
trouble with Harney was comparatively but a pin-prick. What racked the
General was the conviction that Santa Anna must be gathering a great
army to confront him at Vera Cruz; and on February 15, about half of the
surf-boats and a small part of the ordnance and ordnance stores having
been heard from, he sailed for Tampico, leaving Worth to complete the
embarkation as rapidly as he could.[18.30]
While these events were taking place on the Rio Grande line, the troops
under Taylor lay for ten days at Victoria, growing more and more languid
under the hot sun; and the General realized that his coming to this
remote place had embarrassed himself as well as Scott. Finally something
had to be done, for provisions were becoming short, and on January 12 he
ordered the regular infantry and Patterson's men to set out for Tampico,
supposed to lie about 168 miles distant by the road.[18.31] On the
night of the fourteenth, a duplicate of Scott's despatch of January
3--the original of which had been intercepted by the enemy--arrived, and
then, selecting an escort for himself, Taylor directed Quitman's brigade
to proceed in the same direction as Patterson's. The three bodies,
which marched at intervals of twenty-four hours, beginning on that
day, made an aggregate of 4733, of whom the rank and file numbered 1400
regulars and 3000 volunteers. The rule was to sound reveille at three
o'clock and set out at dawn--the regiments of each column taking turns
in leading it; and the engineer company, usually known as "the pick and
shovel brigade," marched in advance of all to mend the road.[18.32]
There was need enough of its work. The meaning of "Tamaulipas" is high
mountains; and while the blue of the Sierra Madre grew daily fainter,
the principal range of the state rose constantly higher in front,
until the summit was crossed, and the troops began to descend into the
tropical region of the coast. Much of the route was boggy or rocky
or steep; the drinking-water often came from stagnant pools; and for
nearly three days the only chance to see human beings outside of one's
own column was when, on surmounting a hilltop, the gleaming steel and
white wagons of another brigade could be made out, one day's march
away--perhaps only six or eight miles--on another eminence.[18.32]
But as the troops approached their destination they felt repaid for
every hardship and effort. The road became deep sand, indeed, but near
it spread a sunny and many-hued lake full of emerald islets, pirogues
laden with odorous fruits, and myriads of noisy widgeon, teal and
other water-fowl; while on the other hand the live-oak, the bay-tree,
the rubber-tree, the banyan, the palm, the flag-leaved aloe, and many
a nameless tree, bush and vine made a dense forest, illumined with
brilliant orchids and more brilliant parrots and macaws, each of which
seemed like a year of sunsets epitomized. A soft, salubrious breeze
from the Gulf caressed their faces; and when, surmounting the last hill
on the tenth day of their march, they saw the grand, leisurely Pánuco
rolling luxuriously on through fields and forests, a wilderness of spars
and masts filling the harbor of Tampico, and the American flag--dear
emblem of country, home and kindred--waving proudly over white walls and
green gardens, a tear of delight ran down many a tanned cheek.[18.32]
[SCOTT AT TAMPICO]
Stationed mostly at some distance above or below the town according to
the usual policy of the American commanders, they now devoted themselves
to drilling and counting the days. "Shall we ever see that big fandango
in the halls of Montezuma?" they had been asking for some time, and to
wait four weeks on the _qui vive_ for Scott seemed very hard. February
19, however, he arrived in town looking very anxious, and, declining
the superb horse made ready for him, walked unpretentiously to his
lodgings. The impatience to be off was now intense, and the General
did all in his power to gratify it; but he found himself in a hornet's
nest. At this time he enjoyed no popularity among the officers, for he
was personally known to very few. One or two attempts to check rather
pushing young men had been resented; and now the suspicion that he would
give regulars the post of honor at Vera Cruz threatened serious results.
At a recent banquet the toast necessarily offered to the name of the
commander-in-chief had been coldly received, and Worth had been ignored.
Indeed, some of the leading volunteer officers were disposed to mutiny
unless assured of "a place in the picture."[18.35]
Scott diplomatically declared there would be fighting enough for
all, but as the tardiness of the transports threatened to delay a
part of the troops, that assurance failed to give satisfaction;
and apparently only the arrival of an unexpected steamer or two
averted the danger of trouble. One officer, however--a trim, agile
man with a handsome face, quick black eyes, a poorly educated but
most ingenious mind, a ready tongue, and a conscience that gave him
no trouble--was content.[18.33] For him Taylor's harsh rule had
ended; and soon, making the most of his own crafty talents, the urgent
recommendations of Polk and Scott's determination to keep faith with the
President,[18.34] Pillow--for Pillow it was--established himself at
headquarters on a basis of intimacy and importance.[18.35]
Tampico would have been a delightful resting-place for a while. The
markets were full of good things; it possessed excellent cafés; and the
troops coming from Monterey had brought along a theatrical company; but
Scott tarried there only thirty hours. At New Orleans some information
had been obtained with reference to the Lobos Islands, which lay fifty
or sixty miles to the southeast of Tampico and seven or eight from the
coast, offering a broad, safe anchorage; and Scott had written to Conner
for additional facts. These proved to be favorable, and such of the new
volunteers and freight vessels as could be reached in time had been
ordered to go directly there, instead of sailing to the Brazos. Indeed
these islands were fixed upon as the general rendezvous. Some of the
troops had reached it, and word now came to Scott that an outbreak of
smallpox had occurred among them.[18.37]
He set sail therefore on February 20, and making a swift voyage in the
midst of a "screaming" norther, found at the rendezvous the First and
the Second Pennsylvania, two thirds of the new Louisiana regiment,
the "Palmettoes" of South Carolina, and parts of the New York and
Mississippi regiments.[18.36] Twiggs followed him when the bar off
Tampico was quiet enough to permit, and the other troops did the same
as rapidly as they could. Patterson got away on the twenty-ninth, but
even on the fourth of March Quitman and Shields were chafing beside the
Pánuco, and the latter at least had no definite notion when they would
be able to sail. "Days are months now," he exclaimed; but he and many
others had still to wait. Worse yet, perhaps, not a few of those who got
off were packed in small trading craft, picked up by good luck and unfit
for the service; and the skeletons of ships rotting near the bar gave
them ample cause for anxiety. Worth's troops meanwhile were embarking at
the Brazos; but when he left that quarter on February 25, six companies
of dragoons were still in want of transports.[18.37]
Taylor for his part, escorted by a squadron of dragoons under May, the
Mississippi regiment and two field batteries, left Victoria on January
16 and reached Monterey in eight days. His first impulse on receiving
Scott's orders had been to leave the country, but he concluded not
to do so, and soon--apparently satisfied that he now had an issue
on which to challenge both Polk and Scott[18.38]--he distinctly
informed his friend, Senator Crittenden, that he was a candidate for the
Presidency.[18.39]
[TAYLOR'S POLICY]
He then shaped his plans accordingly. The government had notified
him quite plainly that it wished him to hold no territory beyond the
vicinity of Monterey, and Scott instructed him to concentrate there.
What these men wished, he believed, was that he should be effaced or
play a humble rôle, and he was determined not to accept their plan.
He would be as prominent as he possibly could be. Though not able to
fight the Mexicans, he would at least seem willing to do so, and throw
upon Scott and Polk all the odium of his inactivity. Hence, instead of
burying himself and his aspirations in Monterey, he advanced at the
end of the month to Saltillo, and a few days later took post, with
nearly all of the troops not required on the line of communication,
still farther toward the enemy. The dictates of prudence recognized by
himself, the advice and order of his commanding officer, and the wishes
and instructions of the government were all disregarded. He showed
himself, in fact, both unwise and insubordinate.[18.39]
XIX
SANTA ANNA PREPARES TO STRIKE
September, 1846-February, 1847
While these events were taking place north of the mountains, the
Americans at Saltillo were having a somewhat agitated experience. At
the end of December a great cloud of dust, raised towards the south by
a drove of Mexican horses, convinced Worth he was again in danger, and
preparations were made at once to conquer or die. Butler, who succeeded
him in command, and even the more experienced Wool felt disturbed by
rumors of impending attack, which considerate Mexicans, anxious to
entertain their American visitors, frequently set afloat, though some
of our officers believed that Scott's movement ensured them against
molestation.[19.4]
Finally, the rather approved idea of thorough scouting presented itself;
and on January 19 Major Gaines of the First Kentucky cavalry, with
Captain Cassius M. Clay, Lieutenant Davidson and thirty or forty men,
was detached for this purpose by General Butler.[19.1] After making a
circuitous journey and meeting with only bland, inoffensive Mexicans,
from whom--naturally enough--no important news could be obtained, he
found himself on the twenty-first at the hacienda of La Encarnación,
a point on the main road from San Luis Potosí to Saltillo, and about
fifty-three miles distant from the latter place. Here quite unexpectedly
he lighted upon forty or fifty of the Arkansas cavalry under Major
Borland, whose orders from Wool had been to visit the hacienda and
immediately return. If, however, Taylor could do as he pleased about
instructions, why should not Borland? And when obliging Mexicans told
him of a small force lying at El Salado, only thirty-five or forty
miles farther on, he determined to have the glory of capturing it, and
sent back to his colonel for reinforcements. Gaines's party, added
to his own, seemed adequate, however, and early on the night of the
twenty-second the troopers rode gayly forward.[19.4]
[CARELESSNESS OF TAYLOR'S OFFICERS]
Before long it appeared that the distance was sixty miles and the
Mexican force mythical--besides, rain began to fall; so the Americans
returned to La Encarnación for the night. "The general and the soldier
of each side should ... be always expecting to fall into danger," as
Thucydides wrote long ago, and of course our officers understood that in
a hostile country picket guards were sometimes deemed advisable; but,
operating on the higher plane of action, they felt that a comfortable
sleep was what all needed most, and accordingly at daybreak they found
themselves in the midst of Miñón's cavalry brigade of, say, 1200 men,
magnified in their opinion--doubtless by the fog--to 3000. The Mexican
general was, however, a most accomplished and elegant gentleman, and
he at once relieved their embarrassment by taking them under his
full--indeed, close--protection.[19.4]
Not aware of this comforting fact, Brigadier General Lane detached
eighteen men under Captain Heady of the Kentucky cavalry, two days
later, to look up their comrades. These men found liquor at a ranch
and perhaps--as a letter from Saltillo stated--a fandango, too. Firmly
persuaded that joy should be unconfined, they "got drunk," and so
without using up a grain of powder they ascertained by ocular proof the
fate of the other detachments. Apparently there was some ground for
Wool's remark that the volunteers, though now almost eight months old in
the service, could not easily be made to obey instructions on such duty.
Indeed, even after Borland's mishap and in spite of strict orders, two
outposts now went to sleep without a picket or a sentry.[19.4]
To be sure, the men were ready enough to fight. "Why we have no
more fear of a Mexican than if they were [prairie] Wolves," wrote a
soldier. Wool's men felt particularly keen. On the way from La Vaca
to San Antonio they had passed a spot where about 400 Texans had been
massacred by Santa Anna's order in 1836. A fire had lighted up their
faces that meant, "No mercy," said one of them; and exhausted though
they were after their wonderful march from Parras, they felt very much
dissatisfied on reaching the front, "there being no prospect of a
fight." But the recent disasters had made it seem as if the mountains
were full of the enemy, and one of Gaines's men, who contrived to
escape, brought fearful tales. Even those Americans who did not care
to do picket duty felt little desire to wake up some foggy morning as
prisoners. Signs of a panicky feeling could be observed, and Wool found
it necessary to invoke Taylor's aid.[19.4]
The General's position in his army was now extraordinary. To the troops,
while they gloried in his courage, his achievements had seemed at the
time commonplace enough; but sentiment at home as exhibited in the
newspapers--reacting from painful anxiety, indulging in the common taste
for exaggeration, and instinctively demanding a national figure for this
national crisis--had not only done justice to his great qualities, but,
partly in order to explain victories clearly marked with errors, made
him out a genius and worker of miracles; and all this laudation, read by
the army, created an impression which both duty and interest forbade the
more discriminating to impair.[19.4]
[ARMY FEELING TOWARD TAYLOR]
The General, moreover, though nursing the mammoth conceit that he was
qualified to be President of the United States, was careful to spare
the self-love of all who came in contact with him; and while no one
could enter Scott's presence without feeling himself before a superior
man aware of his superiority, probably most of Taylor's visitors had
an agreeable sense of excelling him in personal appearance, dress,
education and talents, and enjoyed also a flattering conviction of their
insight, because they recognized that he possessed high merits after
all. How the soldiers, oppressed by the lordliness of many generals,
adored his plainness we have seen. They felt they could bow down to such
a man without losing self-respect, since the obeisance was due to their
own choice, not his demand; and when he welcomed one to his unguarded
tent and talked with him about home and friends, or shook a delinquent
by the two ears with a kindly warning not to do so again, he established
a positive dominion over their minds and hearts. It has been said that
no woman loves a man unless she can despise him for something, and the
saying may be extended to the rest of humanity. Taylor had thus a double
hold on his troops. His black body-servant referred to him as "De ole
hoss," but would have died for him; and while the army would probably
have expressed itself about him as lightly as did the street urchins of
Philadelphia:
"Old Zack's at Monterey,
Bring out your Santa Anner;
For every time we raise a gun,
Down goes a Mexicanner;"
yet in reality he was now enthroned in the hearts of the soldiers
generally as a father, a hero and almost a fetich.[19.4]
Invoked by Wool, then, Taylor--instead of drawing him back, as the
government wished--appeared at Saltillo on the first or second of
February with about 700 men, and proceeded to occupy the advanced
position already mentioned. Believing, as we have seen, that a lack
of water on the road from San Luis would prevent any strong body of
Mexicans from coming north at that season, and hearing that a great part
of Santa Anna's troops had gone toward Vera Cruz, he scouted alarms;
and in addition to his other grounds for pushing forward, he thought so
doing would tend to restore confidence among the troops and the people
of Saltillo. Moreover, although he had ridiculed Scott's intimation that
he might be able to manoeuvre toward San Luis in the early spring, he
was now planning to do so.[19.4]
Scrambling out of Saltillo by the southern route, which makes a short
but sharp ascent as it leaves the town, Taylor found himself on a
rather smooth plateau elevated nearly or quite 6000 feet above the
sea, and after a ride of about five miles discovered on the left,
near the road, four or five mean adobe buildings, headquarters of the
Buena Vista ranch, where Wool's command had recently been in camp. The
southern outlook from this point was desolate but noble. On both sides
rose high, barren mountains. Those on the west, formed of many rather
thin horizontal slabs of rock, slightly concave toward the sky and
separated by thicker deposits of a softer material eroded at the edges,
formed reddish, flat-topped pyramids like the pictured hanging gardens
of Babylon; while those on the other hand were a true sierra, a line
of saw-tooth peaks buttressed with sharp spurs. Descending easily for
about a mile and a half, the General came to a narrow place called by
Mexicans La Angostura (_The Narrows_), and then traversed lengthwise
for a distance of about three and a half miles the approximately
north-and-south valley of Buena Vista. At the end of this came the
windy, dusty farm of La Encantada, where Butler had stationed Wool for a
time; and then began the smiling valley of Agua Nueva, which broadened
gradually for about seven miles, and ended at the farm or hacienda of
that name. This lay near the mountain on the eastern edge of a wide
plain, generously supplied by nature with fuel and water.[19.4]
Here Taylor pitched his tent on the fifth, and by the fourteenth
substantially all the troops were on the spot--about 650 camping with
him and some 4000 lying with Wool a mile or so away. The General ordered
no scouting, and took about the same precautions against surprise that
Gaines and Borland had taken. On the ground that spies could not be
kept out, he let the Mexicans come and go with perfect freedom. The
engineers, reconnoitring on their own responsibility, concluded that
the mountains were "passable in every direction" by routes familiar to
the enemy but of course blind to the invader.[19.2] Parallel roads lay
beyond the heights on each side. Yet here Taylor decided that he would
meet the enemy, should they care to attack him;[19.3] and he said to
the correspondent of the New York _Tribune_; "Let them come; damned if
they don't go back a good deal faster than they came." In reality the
troops had more reason than ever to feel alarmed; but Dagon was again in
the midst of them, and they stood like mountains. Taylor might be old
and slow and inefficient, and he might know little about the art of war,
but he could stiffen the courage of soldiers. "Every man feels that the
honor of his country is now placed in his hands," wrote Lieutenant Posey
on the nineteenth.[19.4]
SANTA ANNA'S PLANS]
This takes us back to Santa Anna, who left the city of Mexico for
the north on September 28. When his carriage had rolled on for about
thirty miles, he received word that Monterey had fallen, and the news
occasioned many bitter reflections; but there were enough other matters
to divert his thoughts. He understood well the superior strength of the
United States; but from Mackenzie's mission and the conviction that war
expenses would be extremely unpopular in this country, he doubtless
felt sure that we earnestly desired peace. It was therefore clear to
him that his problem was to gain one victory. This would so discourage
us, he seems to have calculated, that he could end the war on fairly
satisfactory terms.[19.7]
To gain this victory, it seemed only necessary to gather large forces,
bar the road from the north with fortifications, make no defence of
outlying sections, worry the Americans perhaps with feints and forays,
await and repulse them should they advance, and at the end of the winter
season, should they not, fall upon some fraction of their army with full
power. One difficulty in this programme was the general hatred which he
must have known the northern provinces entertained for him, because his
policy had always sacrificed their interests; and he thought it wise to
despatch a proclamation to San Luis Potosí, calling upon the people to
see in him only a Mexican soldier fighting for the common country. The
appeal was effectual. A committee met him about a dozen miles from the
city, and on October 8 he entered a town decorated with tapestries and
pots of flowers, and resounding with salvos of artillery, peals of bells
and enthusiastic vivas from the entire population.[19.7]
A number of circumstances occurring now and later appeared favorable.
The government engaged that he should have an adequate remittance of
funds every month, and instructed the heads of seven states to supply
his general wants. A medal was promised to all taking part in the
campaign. The National Guards, now ordered to obey the central instead
of the state authorities, apparently came within his reach. The fight
at Monterey was pictured as creditable to Mexican arms and costly to
the enemy. Every life sacrificed there on the altar of nationality,
proclaimed the government, called to heaven for vengeance, and the
outrages perpetrated by the insolent invaders proved how they would
trample on the whole country, if they could.[19.7]
Once more our wicked administration and its horde of "adventurers" were
denounced in the good old blood-curdling style, and once more the forays
of the savage Indians were laid to our charge. Detestable wretches like
the Americans could not wage war long. Their beloved money-bags were
already feeling pinched. Volunteers did not flock to the banner. Noble
orators like Webster were enlightening the better people. The slavery
question could not fail to paralyze the country. Already the elections
had turned against the administration, and signs of a revolution could
be seen. European countries were certainly preparing to interfere.
Merely by uniting, the Mexicans could "tear from the invader's flag the
symbol of Texas," and at last--so it was declared--union had actually
been achieved. On all sides patriotism had burst into flame. The nation
was rising. It would take account of every injury, great or small,
inflicted by the barbarians of the north, and the day of settlement
would soon arrive. In this fashion talked the government, the orators
and the newspapers; and many observers in Europe and the United States
believed the overdue national movement had now begun.[19.7]