1847-1850.
ATTACK OF THE CITY MOB ON THE ARMY--QUITMAN GOVERNOR--PEÑA
PRESIDENT--CONGRESS ORDERED--SIEGE OF PUEBLA--LANE'S, LALLY'S AND
CHILDS'S VICTORIES--GUERRILLEROS BROKEN UP--MEXICAN
POLITICS--ANAYA PRESIDENT--PEACE NEGOTIATIONS--SCOTT'S
DECREE--PEÑA PRESIDENT--SANTA ANNA AND LANE--SANTA ANNA LEAVES
MEXICO FOR JAMAICA--TREATY ENTERED INTO--ITS CHARACTER--SANTA CRUZ
DE ROSALES--COURT OF INQUIRY--INTERNAL TROUBLES--AMBASSADORS AT
QUERÉTARO--TREATY RATIFIED--EVACUATION--REVOLUTIONARY
ATTEMPTS--CONDITION OF MEXICO SINCE THE WAR--CHARACTER OF SANTA
ANNA--NOTE ON THE MILITARY CRITICS.
Scarcely had the divisions of the American army, after the enthusiastic
expression of their joy, begun to disperse from the great square of
Mexico in search of quarters, when the populace commenced firing upon
them from within the deep embrasures of the windows and from behind the
parapet walls of the house tops. This dastardly assault by the mob of a
surrendered city lasted for two days, until it was terminated by the
vigorous military measures of General Scott. Yet it is due to the
Mexicans to state that this horrible scheme of assassination was not
countenanced by the better classes, but that the base outbreak was
altogether owing to the liberation of about two thousand convicts by the
flying government on the previous night. These miscreants,--the scum and
outcasts of Mexico--its common thieves, stabbers and notorious
vagrants,--banded with nearly an equal number of the disorganized army,
had already thronged the Palace when Quitman arrived with his division,
and it was only by the active exertion of Watson's marines, that the
vagrant crowd was driven from the edifice.
[Illustration: GREAT SQUARE OF MEXICO.]
General Quitman was immediately appointed civil and military Governor
of the conquered capital, and discharged his duties under the martial
law proclaimed by Scott on the 17th September. The general order of
the Commander-in-Chief breathes the loftiest spirit of self-respect,
honor and national consideration. He points out clearly the crimes
commonly incident to the occupation of subdued cities, and gives
warning of the severity with which their perpetrators will be
punished. He protects the administration of justice among the Mexicans
in the courts of the country. He places the city, its churches,
worship, convents, monasteries, inhabitants and property, under the
special safeguard of the faith and honor of the American army. And
finally, instead of demanding, according to the custom of many
generals in the old world, a splendid ransom from the opulent city, he
imposed upon it a trifling contribution of one hundred and fifty
thousand dollars,--twenty thousand of which he devoted to extra
comforts for the sick and wounded; ninety thousand to purchase
blankets and shoes for gratuitous distribution among the common
soldiers, while but forty thousand were reserved for the military
chest. This act of clemency and consideration is in beautiful contrast
with the last malignant spitefulness of the conquered army, whose
commander, unable to overthrow the invaders in fair combat, had
released at midnight, the desperadoes from his prisons, with the hope
that assassination might do the work which military skill and
honorable valor had been unable to effect.
Meanwhile Santa Anna despatched a circular from the town of Guadalupe
recounting to the Governors of the different States the loss of the
capital, and, on the 16th, he issued a decree requiring Congress to
assemble at Querétaro, which was designated as the future seat of
government. As president and politician, he at once saw that he could do
nothing more without compromising himself still further. Resigning,
therefore, the executive chair in favor of his constitutional successor,
Señor Peña-y-Peña, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, he despatched
General Herrera with four thousand troops to Querétaro, and departed to
assail the Americans in Puebla. On the 18th he evacuated Guadalupe, and
took the road to the eastward, with two thousand cavalry commanded by
General Alvarez. He knew that the communication with our base of
operations in that quarter was seriously interrupted if not entirely cut
off; and he vainly hoped to recover his military prestige by some
brilliant feat of arms over detached or unequal squadrons.
When Scott marched into the valley of Mexico, Puebla was left in
charge of Colonel Childs, with four hundred efficient men and nearly
eighteen hundred in his hospitals. The watchful commander and his
small band preserved order until the false news of Mexican success at
Molino del Rey was received. But, at that moment, the masses, joined
by about three thousand troops under General Rea, a brave and
accomplished Spaniard, rose upon, and besieged the slender garrison.
On the 22d, Santa Anna arrived, and increasing the assailants to
nearly eight thousand, made the most vigorous efforts during the six
following days and nights to dislodge the Americans from the position
they had seized.
About the middle of the month, Brigadier General Lane left Vera Cruz
with a fresh command, and at Jalapa joined the forces of Major Lally,
who with nearly a thousand men and a large and valuable train, had
fought his way thither against Jarauta and his guerrilleros at San
Juan, Paso de Ovejas, Puente Nacional, Plan del Rio, Cerro-Gordo and
Los Animas. As soon as the news of Puebla's danger reached these
commanders they marched to support the besieged band, while Santa Anna
believing that Rea could either conquer or hold Childs in check until
his return, departed in quest of the advancing columns of Lane and
Lally, who were reported to have convoyed from the coast an immense
amount of treasure. The combined lust of glory and gold perhaps
stimulated this last effort of the failing chief. Rea continued the
siege of Puebla bravely. Santa Anna, advancing eastward, and
apparently confident of success, established his headquarters at
Huamantla; but whilst man[oe]uvering his troops to attack our
approaching columns, Lane fell upon him suddenly on the 9th of
October, and after a sharp action, remained victor on the field. On
the next day our eager general continued his march to Puebla, and
entering it on the 13th of October, drove the Mexicans from all their
positions and effectually relieved the pressed but pertinacious
commander of the beleagured Americans.
It was now the turn of those who had been so long assailed to become
assailants. Rea retired to Atlixco, about twenty-five miles from
Puebla, but the inexorable Lane immediately followed in his steps, and
reaching the retreat at sunset on the 19th, by a bright moonlight
cannonaded the town from the overlooking heights. After an hour's
incessant labor, Atlixco surrendered,--the enemy fled,--and thus was
destroyed a nest in which many a guerrillero party had been fitted out
for the annoyance or destruction of Americans.
Mexico possesses a wonderful facility in the creation of armies, or in
the aggregation of men under the name of soldiers. Wherever a standard
is raised, it is quickly surrounded by the idlers, the thriftless, and
the improvident, who are willing, at least, to be supported if not
munificently recompensed for the task of bearing arms. At this period,
and notwithstanding all the recent disgraceful and disheartening
defeats, a large corps had been already gathered in different parts of
the republic. The recruits were, however, divided into small,
undisciplined, and consequently inefficient bodies. It is reported
that Lombardini and Reyes were in Querétaro with a thousand men; Santa
Anna's command, now turned over to General Rincon by order of
President Peña-y-Peña, consisted of four thousand; in Tobasco and
Chiapas there were two thousand; Urrea, Carrabajal and Canales
commanded two thousand; Filisola was at San Luis Potosi with three
thousand; Peña y Barragan had two thousand at Toluca; one thousand
were in Oajaca, while nearly three thousand guerrilleros harassed the
road between Puebla and Vera Cruz and rendered it impassable after the
victories in the valley. The conflict was now almost given up to these
miscreants under Padre Jarauta and Zenobio, for, in the eastern
districts, General Lane with his ardent partizans held Rincon,
Alvarez, and Rea in complete check.
These guerrilla bands had inflicted such injury upon our people that
it became necessary to destroy them at all hazards. This severe task
was accomplished by Colonel Hughes and Major John R. Kenly who
commanded at Jalapa, and by General Patterson, whose division of four
thousand new levies was shortly to be reinforced by General Butler
with several thousand more. Patterson garrisoned the National Bridge
in the midst of these bandit's haunts, and having executed, at Jalapa,
two paroled Mexican officers captured in one of the marauding corps,
and refused the surrender of Jarauta, he drove that recreant priest
from the neighborhood into the valley of Mexico, in which Lane pursued
and destroyed his reorganized band.
Whilst these scattered military events were occurring, Peña-y-Peña, as
President of the Republic, had endeavored, both at Toluca and at
Querétaro, to combine once more the elements of a congress and a
government. He summoned, moreover, the Governors of States to convene
and consult upon the condition of affairs; he suspended Santa Anna;
ordered Paredes into nominal arrest at Tololopan; directed a court
martial upon Valencia for his conduct at Contreras; attempted to
reform the army, and in all his acts seems to have been animated by a
sincere spirit of national reorganization and peace. Nevertheless,
among the deputies who were assembled, the same quarrels that
disgraced former sessions again arose between the Puros, the
Moderados, the Monarquistas, and Santannistas or friends of Santa
Anna, who now formed themselves into a zealous party, notwithstanding
the disgraceful downfall of their leader. These contests were
continued until early in November, when a quorum of the members
reached Querétaro and elected Señor Anaya, the former President
substitute, to serve until the month of January, to which period the
counting of votes for the Presidency had been postponed, as we have
already stated, by the intrigues of Santa Anna. Anaya's election was
a triumph of the Moderados.
Congress broke up after a few day's session, having provided for the
assemblage of a new one on the 1st of January, 1848; but,
unfortunately most of the leaders did not depart from Querétaro which
was henceforth for many months converted into a political battle field
for the benefit or disgrace of the military partizans. The Puros, led
by Gomez Farias, were joined by the disaffected officers of the army
ready for revolution, _pronunciamientos_, or any thing that might
prolong the war with the same ultimate views that animated them during
the armistice in August. But Peña-y-Peña and Anaya were both firm,
discreet and consistent in their resistance. The assembled Governors
of States resolved to support the President, his opinions, and acts,
with their influence and means, while the mass of substantial citizens
and men of property throughout the republic joined in an earnest
expression of anxiety for peace. Guanajuato, San Luis Potosi, and
Jalisco, under the lead of Santannistas and Puros who mutually hated
each other, alone continued hostile to a treaty.
Mr. Trist, soon after the capture of Mexico, had sounded Peña-y-Peña
in relation to the renewal of negotiations; but it was not until the
end of October that the prudent President thought himself justified in
expressing, through his minister, Don Luis de la Rosa, a simple but
ardent wish for the cessation of war. When Anaya assumed the
presidency, a few days afterwards, Peña-y-Peña did not disdain to
enter his cabinet as minister, and, on the 22d of November, offered to
our envoy the appointment of commissioners. But in the meanwhile our
government at home believing that the continuance of Mr. Trist in
Mexico was useless, and probably discontented with his conduct, had
recalled him from the theatre of action. The American commissioner
hastened, therefore, to decline the negotiation and apprised the
Mexicans of his position. But, mature reflection upon the political
state of Mexico, as well as upon the real desires of his government
and people, induced Mr. Trist to change his views, and accordingly he
notified the Mexican cabinet that, in spite of his recall, he would
assume the responsibility of a final effort to close the war. Good
judgment at the moment, and subsequent events, fully justified our
envoy's diplomatic resolve. Commissioners were at once appointed to
meet him, and negotiations were speedily commenced in a spirit of
sincerity and peace. General Scott, nevertheless, though equally
anxious to terminate the conflict, did not for a moment intermit his
military vigilance. The capital, and the captured towns were still as
strictly governed; the growing army was organized for future
operations, and a general order was issued demanding a large
contribution from each of the states for the support of our army. This
military decree, moreover, reformed and essentially changed the
duties, taxation, collection and assaying of the nation; it indicated
the intention of our government to spread its troops all over the
land; and while it reasserted the supremacy of law, and the purity of
its administration, it announced instant death, by sentence of a
drum-head court-martial, to all who engaged in irregular war. This
decree satisfied reflecting Mexicans, who noticed the steady
earnestness and increase of our army, that their nationality was
seriously endangered, and greatly aided, as doubtless it was designed
to do, in stimulating the action of the cabinet and commissioners.
Thus closed the eventful year of 1847. On the 1st of January, 1848,
only thirty deputies of the new congress appeared in their places; and
on the 8th,--the day for the decision of the presidency,--as there was
still no quorum in attendance, and Anaya's term had expired, he
promptly resigned his power to his minister of foreign affairs,
Peña-y-Peña, who reassumed the executive chair, as he formerly had
done, by virtue of his constitutional right as chief justice. Anaya at
once came into his cabinet as minister of war, while De la Rosa took
the port-folio of foreign relations. All these persons were still
sincere coadjutors in the work of peace.
* * * * *
The destiny of Santa Anna was drawing to a close. Huamantla had been
perhaps his last battle field in Mexico. About the middle of January
General Lane received information of the lurking place of the
chieftain, who now, with scarcely the shadow of his ancient power or
influence, was concealed at Tehuacan in the neighborhood of Puebla.
The astute intriguer's admission into the Republic had once been
considered a master stroke of American policy; but his death, capture,
or expulsion, was now equally desired by those who had watched him
more closely and knew him better. Lane, accordingly, with a band of
about three hundred and fifty mounted men, undertook the delicate task
of seizing Santa Anna and had he not received timely warning,
notwithstanding the secrecy of the American's movements, it is
scarcely probable that he would have quitted his retreat alive. Among
the corps of partizan warriors who went in search of the fugitive
there were many Texans who still smarted under the memory of the
dreary march from Santa Fé in 1841, the decimation at Mier, the
cruelties of Goliad and the Alamo; and the imprisonments in Mexico,
Puebla, or Peroté in 1842. But when Lane and his troopers reached
Tehuacan, the game had escaped, though his lair was still warm. All
the personal effects left behind in his rapid flight, were plundered,
with the exception of his wife's wardrobe, which, with a rough though
chivalrous gallantry, was sent to the beautiful but ill matched lady.
A picked military escort, personally attached and doubtless well paid,
still attended him. But, beyond this, he had no military command, and
as a soldier and politician, his power in Mexico had departed.
Having sought by public letters to throw, as usual, the disgrace of his
defeats at Belen and Chapultepec, upon General Terres and the
revolutionary hero Bravo, he aroused the united hatred of these men and
the disgust of their numerous friends. Public opinion openly condemned
him every where. After Lane's assault he took refuge in Oajaca; but the
people of that region were equally inimical and significantly desired
his departure. Thus, broken in fame and character, deprived of a party,
personal influence, patronage, and present use of his wealth, the foiled
Warrior-President stood for a moment at bay. But his resolution was soon
taken. From Cascatlan he wrote to the minister of war on the 1st of
February, demanding passports, and at the same time he intimated to the
American Commander-in-chief his willingness to leave an ungrateful
Republic and to "seek an asylum on a foreign soil where he might pass
his last days in that tranquillity which he could never find in the land
of his birth." The desired passports were granted. He was assured that
neither Mexicans nor Americans would molest his departure; and, moving
leisurely towards the eastern coast with his family, he was met near his
Hacienda of Encero by a select guard, detailed by Colonel Hughes and
Major Kenly, and, escorted with his long train of troopers, domestics,
treasure and luggage to La Antigua, where he embarked on the 5th of
April, 1848, on board a Spanish brig bound to Jamaica. One year and
eight months before, returning from exile, he had landed from the
steamer Arab in the same neighborhood, to regenerate his country![77]
But before his departure probably forever from Mexico, Santa Anna had
been doomed to see the peace concluded. The complete failure of the
Mexicans in all their battles, notwithstanding the courage with which
they individually fought at Churubusco, Chapultepec, and Molino del
Rey, impressed the nation deeply with the conviction of its inability
to cope in arms with the United States. The discomfiture of Paredes,
the want of pecuniary resources, the disorganization of the country,
the growing strength of the Americans who were pouring into the
capital under Patterson, Butler and Marshall, and the utter failure of
the arch-intriguer,--all contributed to strengthen the arm of the
executive and to authorize both the negotiation of a treaty and the
arrangement of an armistice until the two governments should ratify
the terms of peace. Mr. Nicholas P. Trist, Don Luis G. Cuevas, Don
Bernardo Couto, and Don Miguel Atristain, signed the treaty, thus
consummated, on the 2d of February, 1848, at the town of Guadalupe
Hidalgo. Its chief terms were 1st, the re-establishment of peace; 2d,
the boundary which confirmed the southern line of Texas and gave us
New Mexico and Upper California; 3d, the payment of fifteen millions
by the United States, in consideration of the extension of our
boundaries; 4th, the payment by our government of all the claims of
its citizens against the Mexican Republic to the extent of three and a
quarter millions, so as to discharge Mexico forever from all
responsibility; 5th, a compact to restrain the incursions and
misconduct of the Indians on the northern frontier. The compact
contained in all, thirty-three articles and a secret article
prolonging the period of ratification in Washington beyond the four
months from its date as stipulated in the original instrument.
This important treaty, which, we believe, history will justly
characterise as one of the most liberal ever assented to by the
conquerors of so great a country, was despatched immediately by an
intelligent courier to Washington; and, notwithstanding the irregularity
of its negotiation after Mr. Trist's recall, was at once sent to the
Senate by President Polk. In that illustrious body of statesmen it was
fully debated, and after mature consideration, ratified, with but slight
change, on the 10th of March. Senator Sevier and Mr. Attorney General
Clifford, resigned their posts and were sent as Plenipotentiaries to
Mexico to secure its passage by the Mexican congress.
Meanwhile the last action of the war was fought and won on the 16th of
March, in ignorance of the armistice, by General Price at Santa Cruz
de Rosales, near Chihuahua; and the diplomatic and military career of
two of our most distinguished citizens was abruptly closed on the
theatre of their brilliant achievements. Scott, the victor of so many
splendid fields, was suspended from the command of the army he had led
to glory, and General William O. Butler was ordered to replace him.
Hot dissensions had occurred between the Commander-in-chief, Worth,
Pillow, and other meritorious officers, and although our government
might well have avoided a scandalous rupture at such a moment in an
enemy's capital, a Court of Inquiry was, nevertheless, convened to
discuss the battles and the men who had achieved the victories! Nor
was Mr. Trist, the steadfast, persevering and successful friend of
peace, spared when he had accomplished all that his government and
countrymen desired. Learned in the language of Spain; intimate with
the character of the people; familiar, by long residence, with their
tastes, feelings and customs, he had been selected by our Secretary of
State in consequence of his peculiar fitness for the mission and its
delicate diplomacy. Yet he was not allowed the honor of finishing his
formal task at _Querétaro_ but was ordered home almost in disgrace.
History, however, will render the justice that politicians and
governments deny, and must honestly recognize the treaty which crowned
and closed the war as emphatically the result of his skill and
watchfulness. The fate of the four most eminent men in this war
illustrates a painful passage in the story of our country, for whilst
Frémont, the pacificator of the west, was brought home a prisoner, and
Taylor converted into a barrack master at Monterey,--Scott was almost
tried for his victories in the presence of his conquered foes, and
Trist disgraced for the treaty he had been sent to negotiate! But the
private or public griefs of our commanders and diplomatists should
properly find no place in these brief historical sketches, nor must we
dwell upon them, even in passing. The great victors and the able
negotiators are secure in the memory and gratitude of the future.
While the court of inquiry pursued its investigations in the capital,
and the United States Senate, at home, was engaged in ratifying the
treaty, President Peña-y-Peña and his cabinet still labored zealously
to assemble a Congress at Querétaro. The Mexican President resolved,
if necessary to obtain a quorum, to exclude New Mexico, California,
and Yucatan from representation; the two first being in possession of
the United States and the latter in revolt. The disturbance in Yucatan
which had been for some time fermenting, broke out fiercely in July,
1847, and became, in fact, a long continued war of castes. The Indian
_peones_ and _rancheros_, under their leaders Pat and Chi, carried
fire and sword among the thinly scattered whites, until relief was
afforded them by Commodore Perry, the Havanese, the English of Jamaica
and some enlisted corps of American volunteers returning from the war.
About Tuspan and Tampico on the east coast,--in the interior State of
Guanajuato,--and on the northern frontiers of Sonora, Durango, and San
Luis, the wild Indians, and the semi-civilized Indian laborers were
rebellious and extremely annoying to the lonely settlers. There were
symptoms everywhere, not only of national disorganization, but almost
of national dissolution. Yet, difficult as was the position of the
government, amid all these foreign and domestic dangers, every member
strove loyally to sustain the nation and its character until the
return of the ratified treaty. Money was contributed freely by the
friends of peace, who sought a renewal of trade and desired to see the
labors of the mines and of agriculture again pursuing their wonted
channels. The clergy, too, who feared national ruin, annexation, or
complete conquest, grudgingly bestowed a portion of their treasures;
and thus the members of Congress were supplied with means to assemble
at the seat of government.
On the 25th May, a brilliant _cortége_ of American cavalry was seen
winding along the hills towards Querétaro as the escort of the
American commissioners, who were welcomed to the seat of government by
the national authorities, and entertained sumptuously in an edifice
set apart for their accommodation. The town was wild with rejoicing.
Those who had been so recently regarded as bitter foes, were hailed
with all the ardor of ancient, and uninterrupted friendship. No one
would have imagined that war had ever been waged between the soldiers
of the north and south who now shared the same barracks and pledged
each other in their social cups. If the drama was prepared for the
occasion by the government, it was certainly well played, and
unquestionably diverted the minds of the turbulent and dangerous
classes of the capital at a moment when good feeling was most needed.
Congress was in session when our commissioners arrived, and on the same
day the Senate ratified the treaty, which, after a stormy debate, had
been previously sanctioned by the Chamber of Deputies. On the 30th of
May the ratifications were finally exchanged, and the first instalment
of indemnity being paid in the city of Mexico, our troops evacuated the
country in the most orderly manner during the following summer.
* * * * *
It cannot be denied that the Mexican Government, whose tenure of power
was so frail, almost trembled at the sudden withdrawal of our forces
and the full restoration of a power for which, as patriots, they
naturally craved. The sudden relaxation of a firm and dreaded military
authority in the capital, amid all those classes of intriguing
politicians, soldiers, clergymen, and demagogues, who had so long
disturbed the nation's peace before Scott's capture of Mexico,
naturally alarmed the president and cabinet, who possessed no reliable
army to replace the departing Americans. But the three millions,
received opportunely for indemnity, were no doubt judiciously used by
the authorities, while the men of property and opulent merchants
leagued zealously with the municipal authorities to preserve order
until national reorganization might begin. One of the first steps in
this scheme was the election by Congress of General Herrera,--a hero
of revolutionary fame,--as Constitutional President, and of
Peña-y-Peña as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. These and other
conciliatory but firm acts gave peace at least for the moment to the
heart of the nation; but beyond the capital all the bonds of the
Federal Union were totally relaxed. Scarcely had the National
Government been reinstalled in the city of Mexico, when General
Mariano Paredes y Arrillaga unfurled the standard of rebellion in
Guanajuato, under the pretext of opposing the treaty. The
administration, possessing only the skeleton of an army, did not halt
to consider the smallness of its resources, but promptly placed all
its disposable men under the command of Anastasio Bustamante, who with
Miñon, Cortazar, and Lombardini, not only put down the revolution of
Paredes, but, by their influence and admirable conduct imposed order
and inspired renewed hopes for the future wherever they appeared. In
the same way the strong arm of power was honestly used to destroy
faction wherever it dared to lift its turbulent head,--and the
National Guard of the Federal District faithfully performed its duty
in this patriotic task. Paredes disappeared after his fall in
Guanajuato, and remained in concealment or obscurity until his death.
Various outbreaks occurred in Mazatlan, on the western coast; in the
State of Tobasco; in Chiapas, and among the Indians of Puebla; in the
Huasteca of the State of Mexico; and in the Sierra Gorda belonging to
the States of Querétaro, San Luis, and Guanajuato. These, like the
revolt in Yucatan, threatened a war of castes, but the energetic
government found means to subdue the rebels, and to reduce their
districts to order.
* * * * *
Thus, for more than two years, has the government of President Herrera
maintained its respectability and authority in spite of a failing
treasury, political factionists, and domestic rebellion. The attempted
task of national reorganization has been honestly and firmly, if not
successfully carried out. The army, that canker of the nation, has
been nearly destroyed, and its idle officers and men discharged to
earn their living by honest labor. A great change has passed over
Mexico. Santa Anna lives abroad in almost compulsory exile. Canalizo
and Paredes are dead. Bustamante, without political strength or party,
retains a military command. The force in garrison does not amount to
more, probably, than five or six thousand. The prestige of the army
was blurred and blighted by the war. Nearly all the old political
managers and intriguers are gradually passing from the stage, and,
with the new men coming upon it, to whom the war has taught terrible
but salutary lessons, we may hope that another era of civilization and
progress is about to dawn upon this great country. This hope is
founded on the establishment of order and official responsibility by a
strong government which will neither degenerate into despotism nor
become corrupt by the uninterrupted enjoyment of power. The true value
of the representative system will thus become rapidly known to Mexico
as she develops her resources, by the united, constitutional, and
peaceful movement of her state and national machinery.
* * * * *
Among all the agitators of the country no one has been, by turns, so
much courted and dreaded as Santa Anna. His political history,
sketched in this volume, discloses many but not all the features of
his private character. He possessed a wilful, observant, patient
intellect, which had received very little culture; but constant
intercourse with all classes of men, made him perfectly familiar with
the strength and weaknesses of his countrymen. There was not a person
of note in the Republic whose value he did not know, nor was there a
venal politician with whose price he was unacquainted. Believing most
men corrupt or corruptible, he was constantly busy in contriving
expedients to control or win them. A soldier almost from his infancy,
during turbulent times among semi-civilized troops, he had become so
habitually despotic that when he left the camp for the cabinet he
still blent the imperious General with the intriguing President. He
seemed to cherish the idea that his country could not be virtuously
governed. Ambitious, and avaricious, he sought for power not only to
gratify his individual lust of personal glory, but as a means of
enriching himself and purchasing the instruments who might sustain his
authority. Accordingly, he rarely distinguished the public treasure
from his private funds. Soldier as he was by profession, he was
slightly skilled in the duties of a commander in the field, and never
won a great battle except through the blunders of his opponents. He
was a systematic revolutionist; a manager of men; an astute
intriguer;--and, personally timid, he seldom meditated an advance
without planning a retreat. Covetous as a miser, he nevertheless,
delighted to watch the mean combat between fowls upon whose prowess he
had staked his thousands. An agriculturist with vast landed
possessions, his chief rural pleasure was in training these birds for
the brutal battle of the pit. Loving money insatiably, he leaned with
the eagerness of a gambler over the table where those who knew how to
propitiate his greediness learned the graceful art of losing
judiciously. Sensual by constitution, he valued woman only as the
minister of his pleasures. The gentlest being imaginable in tone,
address, and demeanor to foreigners or his equals, he was oppressively
haughty to his inferiors, unless they were necessary to his purposes
or not absolutely in his power. The correspondence and public papers
which were either written or dictated by him, fully displayed the
sophistry by which he changed defeats into victories or converted
criminal faults into philanthropy. Gifted with an extraordinary power
of expression, he used his splendid language to impose by sonorous
periods, upon the credulity or fancy of his people. No one excelled
him in ingenuity, eloquence, bombast, gasconade or dialectic skill.
When at the head of power, he lived constantly in a gorgeous military
pageant; and, a perfect master of dramatic effect upon the excitable
masses of his countrymen, he forgot the exhumation of the dishonored
bones of Cortéz to superintend the majestic interment of the limb he
had lost at Vera Cruz.[78]
It will easily be understood how such a man, in the revolutionary times
of Mexico, became neither the Cromwell nor the Washington of his
country. The great talent which he unquestionably possessed, taught him
that it was easier to deal corruptly with corruptions than to rise to
the dignity of a loyal reformer. He and his country mutually acted, and
reacted upon each other. Neither a student nor a traveller, he knew
nothing of human character except as he saw it exhibited at home, and
there he certainly sometimes found excuses for severity and even
despotism. It is undeniable that he was endowed with a peculiar genius,
but it was that kind of energetic genius which may raise a dexterous man
from disgrace, defeat or reverses, rather than sustain him in power when
he has reached it. He never was popular or relied for success on the
democratic sentiment of his country. He ascertained, at an early day,
that the people would not favor his aspirations, and, abandoning
federalism, he threw himself in the embrace of the centralists. The army
and the church-establishment,--combined for mutual protection under his
auspices,--were the only two elements of his political strength; and as
long as he wielded their mingled power, he was enabled to do more than
any other Mexican in thoroughly demoralizing his country. As a military
demagogue he was often valuable even to honest patriots who were willing
to call him to power for a moment to save the country either from
anarchy or from the grasp of more dangerous aspirants. Until the army
was destroyed, Santa Anna could not fall, nor would the military
politicians yield to the civil. As long as this dangerous chief and his
myrmidons remained in Mexico, either in or out of power, every citizen
felt that he was suffering under the rod of a Despot or that the
progress of his country would soon be paralyzed by the wand of an
unprincipled Agitator. But with the army reduced to the mere
requirements of a police system, and Santa Anna beyond the limits of the
Republic, the nation may breathe with freedom and vigor.[79]
NOTE.--These historical sketches of the late war with Mexico are
designed to present a rapid view of the chief _events_ and
_motives_ of the international conflict rather than to portray the
separate actions of civil and military men who were engaged in it.
We have, therefore, not been as minute as might be desired either
by ourself or by interested individuals. This, however, will be
remedied in the general "History of the War between Mexico and the
United States," which we design publishing.
In narrating the battles we have sketched them _according to the
published plans of the commanders on both sides_. This is the fair
system of describing and judging; but whether those plans _were
always the most judicious_, is a matter for military criticism in
which we have not present space to indulge. Resaca de la Palma,
Monterey, Buena Vista, Vera Cruz, Molino del Rey, Chapultepec, and
the _time_ as well as the _mode_ of capturing the capital, have
all been discussed and condemned by the prolific class of fault
finders--most of whose judgments, when at all correct, are founded
upon knowledge acquired or assured subsequently to the actions,
and which was entirely inaccessible to the commanders when they
fought the battles that are criticised. One thing, however, should
gratify our Generals exceedingly, and it is that in truth they
_did_ fight and _win_ the several actions in question,
notwithstanding their blunders and notwithstanding the fact that
their junior civil and military critics could have fought them so
much better! They had, it seems, a double triumph--one over their
own stupid ignorance and another over the enemy!
[Footnote 77: In his letter to the Secretary of War on the 1st of
February from Cascatlan, he says: "to enable me to live out of the way
of the banditti travelling about here in large parties, I have had to
spend more than two thousand dollars, necessary to maintain a small
escort, when, through the scarcity of means in the treasury, _I served
my country without pay_." This is a singular illustration of Santa
Anna's characteristic avarice. Perhaps no man ever served his country
for more liberal and certain pay than this chieftain. We have been
informed by one of our highest officers, who was in the capital after
its occupation by our troops, and had access to the Mexican archives,
that, amid all Santa Anna's political and military distresses he never
forgot his pecuniary interests. The books of the treasury showed that,
at the moment when the city was about to fall and when there was
scarcely money enough to maintain the troops, _he paid himself the
whole of his salary as President up to that date, and all the arrears
which he claimed as due to him, as President also, during the period
of his residence in exile at Havana_!]
[Footnote 78: See page 91, vol. 1, and Mexico as it was and as it is,
p 207.]
[Footnote 79: See vol. 2, chapter xii, p. 155. Reflections upon the
Republic.]
Transcriber's Note
* Obvious punctuation and spelling errors repaired.
* Footnotes moved to end of respective chapters.
* Notes moved to end of respective paragraphs.
* Notes normalized to include -- (Example: Note.--)
* Hyphenation of words normalized.
* Pg 226: "1512" changed to "1712" in "In 1512, Philip V. found
himself...."