At the recent reception of the Missouri volunteers under Col. Doniphan
at St. Louis, the address of welcome was delivered by Mr. Senator
Benton. The speech is characteristic--exhibiting that clear and graphic
narrative and those strong and concentrated expressions for which the
Senator is remarkable.
The orator gave an outline of the long march of this gallant
regiment--first, a thousand miles to New Mexico, which became
a starting point of a new departure. Then Chihuahua was aimed
at--Chihuahua, a rich and populous city of nearly thirty thousand
souls, the seat of the government of the state of that name, and
formerly the residence of the Captains General of the Internal
Provinces under the vice-regal government. In advancing towards
Chihuahua the adventurous regiment encountered incredible hardships.
They passed over the desert called _el jornada de los muertos_--the
journey of the dead--an arid plain of ninety miles strewed with the
bones of animals perished of hunger and thirst and marked by continual
mementos of men who had fallen victims to the perilous way. They fought
the enemy at the Bracito, and gained a decisive victory although
opposed by superior numbers strong in cavalry and artillery. Again at
Sacramento the intrepid band fought and conquered a vastly superior
force. Mr. Benton calls that victory “one of the military marvels of
the age.” At length Chihuahua is reached and taken; and there the bold
adventurers must pause to determine which way next they shall direct
their steps. They had occupied a city about as far from St. Louis as
Moscow is from Paris. Let Col. Benton’s graphic narrative be heard:
“Chihuahua gained, it became, like Santa Fe, not the terminating point
of a long expedition, but the beginning point of a new one. Gen. Taylor
was somewhere--no one knew exactly where--but some seven or eight
hundred miles towards the other side of Mexico. You had heard that he
had been defeated--that _Buena Vista_ had not been a _good prospect_
to him. Like good Americans you did not believe a word of it; but like
good soldiers, you thought it best to go and see. A volunteer party
of fourteen, headed by Collins of Boonville, undertake to penetrate
to Saltillo, and to bring you information of his condition. They set
out. Amidst innumerable dangers they accomplish their purpose; and
return. You march. A vanguard of one hundred men, led by Lieut. Colonel
Mitchell, led the way. Then came the main body, (if the name is not a
burlesque on such a handful,) commanded by Col. Doniphan himself.
“The whole table land of Mexico, in all its breadth, from west to
east, was to be traversed. A numerous and hostile population in
towns--treacherous Cumanches in the mountains--were to be passed. Every
thing was to be self-provided--provisions, transportation, fresh horses
for remounts, and even the means of victory--and all without a military
chest, or even an empty box, in which government gold had ever reposed.
All was accomplished. Mexican towns were passed, in order and quiet:
plundering Cumanches were punished: means were obtained from traders to
liquidate indispensable contributions: and the wants that could not be
supplied, were endured like soldiers of veteran service.
“I say the Cumanches were punished. And here presents itself an episode
of a novel, extraordinary, and romantic kind--Americans chastising
savages for plundering people who they themselves came to conquer,
and forcing the restitution of captives and of plundered property.
A strange story this to tell in Europe, where back-woods character,
western character, is not yet completely known. But to the facts. In
the muskeet forest of the _Bolson de Mapimi_, and in the sierras around
the beautiful town and fertile district of Parras, and in all the open
country for hundreds of miles round about, the savage Cumanches have
held dominion ever since the usurper Santa Anna disarmed the people;
and sally forth from their fastnesses to slaughter men, plunder cattle,
and carry off women and children. An exploit of this kind had just been
performed on the line of the Missourians’ march, not far from Parras,
and an advanced party chanced to be in that town at the time the news
of the depredation arrived there. It was only fifteen strong. Moved by
gratitude for the kind attentions of the people, especially the women,
to the sick of General Wool’s command, necessarily left in Parras, and
unwilling to be outdone by enemies in generosity, the heroic fifteen,
upon the spot, volunteered to go back, hunt out the depredators, and
punish them, without regard to numbers. A grateful Mexican became their
guide. On their way they fell in with fifteen more of their comrades;
and, in short time, seventeen Cumanches killed out of sixty-five,
eighteen captives restored to their families, and three hundred and
fifty head of cattle recovered for their owners, was the fruit of this
sudden and romantic episode.
“Such noble conduct was not without its effect on the minds of the
astonished Mexicans. An official document from the Prefect of the place
to Captain Reid, leader of this detachment, attests the verity of the
fact, and the gratitude of the Mexicans; and constitutes a trophy of a
new kind in the annals of war. Here it is in the original Spanish, and
I will read it off in English.
“It is officially dated from the Prefecture of the Department of
Parras, signed by the Prefect Jose Ignacio Arrabe, and addressed to
Capt. Reid, the 18th of May, and says:
“‘At the first notice that the barbarians, after killing many, and
taking captives, were returning to their haunts, you generously and
bravely offered, with fifteen of your subordinates, to fight them on
their crossing by the Pozo, executing this enterprise with celerity,
address and bravely worthy of all eulogy, and worthy of the brilliant
issue which all celebrate. You recovered many animals and much
plundered property; and eighteen captives were restored to liberty and
to social enjoyments, their souls overflowing with a lively sentiment
of joy and gratitude, which all the inhabitants of this town equally
breathe, in favor of their generous deliverers and their valiant
chief. The half of the Indians killed in the combat, and those which
fly wounded, do not calm the pain which all feel for the wound which
your excellency received defending christians and civilized beings
against the rage and brutality of savages. All desire the speedy
re-establishment of your health; and although they know that in your
own noble soul will be found the best reward of your conduct, they
desire also to address you the expression of their gratitude and high
esteem. I am honored in being the organ of the public sentiment, and
pray you to accept it, with the assurance of my most distinguished
esteem.
“‘God and Liberty!’”
“This is a trophy of a new kind in war, won by thirty Missourians, and
worthy to be held up to the admiration of christendom.”
The regiment arrived at Gen Taylor’s camp at Monterey, and reported
themselves ready for duty. They were prepared to go with the hero of
Buena Vista to San Luis Potosi, or Zacatecas, or the city of Mexico.
They regarded not their fatigues nor the approaching expiration of
their term of service. “But unhappily,” says Mr. Benton, “the conqueror
of Palo Alto Resaca de la Palma, Monterey and Buena Vista, was not
exactly in the condition that the Lieutenant General, might have been,
intended him to be. He was not at the head of 20,000 men! he was not at
the head of any thousands that would enable him to march! and had to
decline the proffered service. Thus the long marched and well fought
volunteers--the rough, the ready, and the ragged--had to turn their
faces towards home, still more than two thousand miles distant.”
The last nine hundred miles of the land march from Chihuahua to
Matamoras was made in forty-five days with seventeen pieces of
artillery, eleven of which had been taken from the enemy. During all
their long march this regiment of hardy soldiers received from the
Government not a dollar of pay; they furnished for the most part their
own supplies and forage and clothing, and yet brought back nearly their
whole number. “You marched farther than the farthest,” says Mr. Benton,
“you have fought as well as the best, left order and quiet in your
train, and cost less money than any.”
Col. Doniphan made an eloquent address in reply to the oration of
welcome, and towards the close of it, he turned to his men, the
companions of his toils and dangers, and said:
“You have endured much toil and hardship. It is now about to terminate.
You have arrived once more in the land of civilized society, and again
we are citizens mingling with our fellow-citizens. Your lot has been a
hard one in many respects.
“Before reaching New Mexico, by two hundred miles, you were on half
rations, and never afterwards, for a single day, during our long and
arduous march to Saltillo, did you receive full rations. Yet all this
you have borne, and you have borne it with fortitude. The order which
you received to march in Major Gilpin’s command, with a large column,
over the Sierra Madre, covered with perpetual snow--proceeding on your
march on shortened allowance, without tents or transportation, and many
other comforts, because the Government was unable to furnish them; yet
you bore it all, and were ready to resume your march in two days on the
city of Chihuahua. You have travelled over five states of Mexico, and
five very large ones, in point of territory.
“Perhaps the citizens of St. Louis do not know what a Bonava is, but
I will answer for every man in my command, knowing what they are. I
may assure you, had you crossed them, you too, would have known what
they are. The shortest one that we crossed was fifty miles and one
ninety-five miles, which we crossed in three days in December, without
wood, without water, without tents, at an elevation of 7000 feet above
the Atlantic ocean. In sending expresses to the distance of 600 miles,
when I was unable to furnish them with the means of carrying provision
and other comforts with them over immense sand prairies covered with
snow, I have never made a detail, but all were volunteers, or when I
have sent out parties for the purpose of watching the enemy who have
had to starve for days, I never made a detail in this column, but all
were volunteers, and I am proud to say it.”