A NEW WAR.
In the time of James K. Polk, a war rose in which our States
were not of one mind. Our folk in Tex-as laid claim to a large
tract of land which those in Mex-i-co said was theirs. The States
at the North did not wish to go in to this war; but those at
the South did. This was in 1846. Gen-er-al Tay-lor went with
his troops at once in to the land of the foe, and built a fort
on a stream there. He gave it the name of Fort Brown. On his
way he met the troops of the foe drawn up in the road. They
had three to one of his small band; but he had the good luck
to rout them, with loss of but nine men on our side.
Then he took up his march on their great town, which had the
name of Mon-te-rey. This town had high hills and deep gulfs
round it, and strong forts. Its streets were full of men with
arms. Gen-er-al Tay-lor made a grand move on the town. To get
out of the fire that would seem to pour on them from the roofs,
the troops went in and dug their way through stone walls from
house to house, or they would pass from roof to roof. Ere they
came to the grand place of the town, it was in their hands,
the foe gave up the fight.
[Illustration: CAP-TURE OF MON-TE-REY.]
At this time San-ta An-na, who was chief of the Mex-i-can troops,
heard that most of our men had been drawn off to help Gen-er-al
Scott; so he thought it would be a good time to crush us. They
laid in wait with all their best troops, and the fight went
on from the rise of the sun till dark. It grew hard to hold
our ground, and the day would have been lost but for the guns
of Cap-tain Bragg, who came to our help. He made a dash up to
a few yards from the foe, and let fire. Their ranks were seen
to shake. "Some more grape. Cap-tain Bragg," said Gen-er-al
Tay-lor. One more round, and then a third came, and the Mex-i-cans
broke and fled. In the night San-ta An-na drew all his troops
off.
Gen-er-al Scott, at the head of our troops, made a march through
the land of Mex-i-co, and took all that came in his way. He drew
siege lines round the town of Ve-ra Cruz, and sent bombs in
to it, and in four days the town, with its strong hold, gave
up the fight. A week from that time our troops took up their
march for the chief town. At one pass in the hills, the foe
had a strong hold. Gen-er-al Scott had a road cut round the
base of those hills and through the woods; and then he was in
a place to pour out fire on the rear of the foe, while more
troops took him in front. The foe fled in such haste that San-ta
An-na, who was lame, left his leg of wood on the ground, and
got off on his wheel mule.
The town of Mex-i-co is in the midst of a grand plain, with
green fields and cloud capt mounts round it. The foe had made
a strong stand here, with forts and men. Our men made a move
in the night. It was so dark they had to feel their way; but
they took their stand on a height from which they could storm
the strong points of the foe. At last they took some of the
guns, and the roads were laid bare to the gates of the town.
There was some talk of a peace then, but Gen-er-al Scott found
that it was not in good faith. The foe did it to gain time,
to make things strong once more. So the next day, he took up
his march on the great town of Mex-i-co. A strong fort, on a
high rock by the town, was made ours; each out work fell one
by one, and at last our troops took the great Ci-ty of Mex-i-co,
and the next morn our flag with its stripes and stars was seen
to float in the light from those grand old piles, which had
been the home of more than one prince of Mex-i-co. So the war
came to an end in just two years.
Till this time, Cal-i-for-nia had been known as a far off land,
to which men went by sea, round Cape Horn, to buy hides and
fur. But in 1848, came news to the East-ern States that there
were gold mines in that place. It was said that a Swiss had
found, as he dug in the sand, a bright sort of dust, and it
was thought to be gold. All at once, on this news, there was
a great rush from all parts of the land to the gold mines of
Cal-i-for-nia, and there was a great sum won the first year.
In two years the town of San Fran-cis-co had grown to quite
a large place. The name of Cal-i-for-nia is said to have been
found in an old book in Spain, and means an isle full of gold.
[Illustration: SAN FRAN-CIS-CO IN 1849.]
Three more States were brought in while Polk was our chief,
and two of them were free States. It was shown that those who
came to us from the old world, chose the free States for their
homes, and those at the South felt sure that the North would
grow too fast if they did not gain more ground. There was a
great piece of land which both North and South laid claim to,
and there were high words on both sides. At last a band of men
by the name of Free Soil men, took a stand that slaves should
be kept out of all new land which the U-nit-ed States might
gain in all time to come.
The next man who was the choice of the land was Tay-lor, the
one who led part of our troops in the war with Mex-i-co. He
was put in by the Whigs. The Free Soil men did not vote for
him. He did not live but one year, and then Fill-more took his
place.