The Mexican war - the
battle of Palo Alto - the
battle of Resaca de la Palma - army
of invasion - general Taylor - movement
on Camargo.
While General Taylor was away with
the bulk of his army, the little garrison up the river
was besieged. As we lay in our tents upon the
sea-shore, the artillery at the fort on the Rio Grande
could be distinctly heard.
The war had begun.
There were no possible means of obtaining
news from the garrison, and information from outside
could not be otherwise than unfavorable. What
General Taylor’s feelings were during this suspense
I do not know; but for myself, a young second-lieutenant
who had never heard a hostile gun before, I felt sorry
that I had enlisted. A great many men, when they
smell battle afar off, chafe to get into the fray.
When they say so themselves they generally fail to
convince their hearers that they are as anxious as
they would like to make believe, and as they approach
danger they become more subdued. This rule is
not universal, for I have known a few men who were
always aching for a fight when there was no enemy
near, who were as good as their word when the battle
did come. But the number of such men is small.
On the 7th of May the wagons were
all loaded and General Taylor started on his return,
with his army reinforced at Point Isabel, but still
less than three thousand strong, to relieve the garrison
on the Rio Grande. The road from Point Isabel
to Matamoras is over an open, rolling, treeless prairie,
until the timber that borders the bank of the Rio
Grande is reached. This river, like the Mississippi,
flows through a rich alluvial valley in the most meandering
manner, running towards all points of the compass
at times within a few miles. Formerly the river
ran by Resaca de la Palma, some four or five miles
east of the present channel. The old bed of
the river at Resaca had become filled at places, leaving
a succession of little lakes. The timber that
had formerly grown upon both banks, and for a considerable
distance out, was still standing. This timber
was struck six or eight miles out from the besieged
garrison, at a point known as Palo Alto - “Tall
trees” or “woods.”
Early in the forenoon of the 8th of
May as Palo Alto was approached, an army, certainly
outnumbering our little force, was seen, drawn up in
line of battle just in front of the timber. Their
bayonets and spearheads glistened in the sunlight
formidably. The force was composed largely of
cavalry armed with lances. Where we were the
grass was tall, reaching nearly to the shoulders of
the men, very stiff, and each stock was pointed at
the top, and hard and almost as sharp as a darning-needle.
General Taylor halted his army before the head of column
came in range of the artillery of the Mexicans.
He then formed a line of battle, facing the enemy.
His artillery, two batteries and two eighteen-pounder
iron guns, drawn by oxen, were placed in position at
intervals along the line. A battalion was thrown
to the rear, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Childs,
of the artillery, as reserves. These preparations
completed, orders were given for a platoon of each
company to stack arms and go to a stream off to the
right of the command, to fill their canteens and also
those of the rest of their respective companies.
When the men were all back in their places in line,
the command to advance was given. As I looked
down that long line of about three thousand armed
men, advancing towards a larger force also armed,
I thought what a fearful responsibility General Taylor
must feel, commanding such a host and so far away
from friends. The Mexicans immediately opened
fire upon us, first with artillery and then with infantry.
At first their shots did not reach us, and the advance
was continued. As we got nearer, the cannon
balls commenced going through the ranks. They
hurt no one, however, during this advance, because
they would strike the ground long before they reached
our line, and ricochetted through the tall grass so
slowly that the men would see them and open ranks
and let them pass. When we got to a point where
the artillery could be used with effect, a halt was
called, and the battle opened on both sides.
The infantry under General Taylor
was armed with flint-lock muskets, and paper cartridges
charged with powder, buck-shot and ball. At the
distance of a few hundred yards a man might fire at
you all day without your finding it out. The
artillery was generally six-pounder brass guns throwing
only solid shot; but General Taylor had with him three
or four twelve-pounder howitzers throwing shell, besides
his eighteen-pounders before spoken of, that had a
long range. This made a powerful armament.
The Mexicans were armed about as we were so far as
their infantry was concerned, but their artillery
only fired solid shot. We had greatly the advantage
in this arm.
The artillery was advanced a rod or
two in front of the line, and opened fire. The
infantry stood at order arms as spectators, watching
the effect of our shots upon the enemy, and watching
his shots so as to step out of their way. It
could be seen that the eighteen-pounders and the howitzers
did a great deal of execution. On our side there
was little or no loss while we occupied this position.
During the battle Major Ringgold, an accomplished
and brave artillery officer, was mortally wounded,
and Lieutenant Luther, also of the artillery, was struck.
During the day several advances were made, and just
at dusk it became evident that the Mexicans were falling
back. We again advanced, and occupied at the
close of the battle substantially the ground held by
the enemy at the beginning. In this last move
there was a brisk fire upon our troops, and some execution
was done. One cannon-ball passed through our
ranks, not far from me. It took off the head
of an enlisted man, and the under jaw of Captain Page
of my regiment, while the splinters from the musket
of the killed soldier, and his brains and bones, knocked
down two or three others, including one officer, Lieutenant
Wallen, - hurting them more or less.
Our casualties for the day were nine killed and forty-seven
wounded.
At the break of day on the 9th, the
army under Taylor was ready to renew the battle; but
an advance showed that the enemy had entirely left
our front during the night. The chaparral before
us was impenetrable except where there were roads
or trails, with occasionally clear or bare spots of
small dimensions. A body of men penetrating it
might easily be ambushed. It was better to have
a few men caught in this way than the whole army,
yet it was necessary that the garrison at the river
should be relieved. To get to them the chaparral
had to be passed. Thus I assume General Taylor
reasoned. He halted the army not far in advance
of the ground occupied by the Mexicans the day before,
and selected Captain C. F. Smith, of the artillery,
and Captain McCall, of my company, to take one hundred
and fifty picked men each and find where the enemy
had gone. This left me in command of the company,
an honor and responsibility I thought very great.
Smith and McCall found no obstruction
in the way of their advance until they came up to
the succession of ponds, before describes, at Resaca.
The Mexicans had passed them and formed their lines
on the opposite bank. This position they had
strengthened a little by throwing up dead trees and
brush in their front, and by placing artillery to cover
the approaches and open places. Smith and McCall
deployed on each side of the road as well as they
could, and engaged the enemy at long range. Word
was sent back, and the advance of the whole army was
at once commenced. As we came up we were deployed
in like manner. I was with the right wing, and
led my company through the thicket wherever a penetrable
place could be found, taking advantage of any clear
spot that would carry me towards the enemy.
At last I got pretty close up without knowing it.
The balls commenced to whistle very thick overhead,
cutting the limbs of the chaparral right and left.
We could not see the enemy, so I ordered my men to
lie down, an order that did not have to be enforced.
We kept our position until it became evident that
the enemy were not firing at us, and then withdrew
to find better ground to advance upon.
By this time some progress had been
made on our left. A section of artillery had
been captured by the cavalry, and some prisoners had
been taken. The Mexicans were giving way all
along the line, and many of them had, no doubt, left
early. I at last found a clear space separating
two ponds. There seemed to be a few men in front
and I charged upon them with my company.
There was no resistance, and we captured
a Mexican colonel, who had been wounded, and a few
men. Just as I was sending them to the rear with
a guard of two or three men, a private came from the
front bringing back one of our officers, who had been
badly wounded in advance of where I was. The
ground had been charged over before. My exploit
was equal to that of the soldier who boasted that
he had cut off the leg of one of the enemy.
When asked why he did not cut off his head, he replied:
“Some one had done that before.”
This left no doubt in my mind but that the battle
of Resaca de la Palma would have been won, just as
it was, if I had not been there. There was no
further resistance. The evening of the 9th the
army was encamped on its old ground near the Fort,
and the garrison was relieved. The siege had
lasted a number of days, but the casualties were few
in number. Major Jacob Brown, of the 7th infantry,
the commanding officer, had been killed, and in his
honor the fort was named. Since then a town of
considerable importance has sprung up on the ground
occupied by the fort and troops, which has also taken
his name.
The battles of Palo Alto and Resaca
de la Palma seemed to us engaged, as pretty important
affairs; but we had only a faint conception of their
magnitude until they were fought over in the North
by the Press and the reports came back to us.
At the same time, or about the same time, we learned
that war existed between the United States and Mexico,
by the acts of the latter country. On learning
this fact General Taylor transferred our camps to
the south or west bank of the river, and Matamoras
was occupied. We then became the “Army
of Invasion.”
Up to this time Taylor had none but
regular troops in his command; but now that invasion
had already taken place, volunteers for one year commenced
arriving. The army remained at Matamoras until
sufficiently reinforced to warrant a movement into
the interior. General Taylor was not an officer
to trouble the administration much with his demands,
but was inclined to do the best he could with the
means given him. He felt his responsibility
as going no further. If he had thought that he
was sent to perform an impossibility with the means
given him, he would probably have informed the authorities
of his opinion and left them to determine what should
be done. If the judgment was against him he would
have gone on and done the best he could with the means
at hand without parading his grievance before the
public. No soldier could face either danger
or responsibility more calmly than he. These
are qualities more rarely found than genius or physical
courage.
General Taylor never made any great
show or parade, either of uniform or retinue.
In dress he was possibly too plain, rarely wearing
anything in the field to indicate his rank, or even
that he was an officer; but he was known to every
soldier in his army, and was respected by all.
I can call to mind only one instance when I saw him
in uniform, and one other when I heard of his wearing
it, On both occasions he was unfortunate. The
first was at Corpus Christi. He had concluded
to review his army before starting on the march and
gave orders accordingly. Colonel Twiggs was
then second in rank with the army, and to him was given
the command of the review. Colonel and Brevet
Brigadier-General Worth, a far different soldier from
Taylor in the use of the uniform, was next to Twiggs
in rank, and claimed superiority by virtue of his brevet
rank when the accidents of service threw them where
one or the other had to command. Worth declined
to attend the review as subordinate to Twiggs until
the question was settled by the highest authority.
This broke up the review, and the question was referred
to Washington for final decision.
General Taylor was himself only a
colonel, in real rank, at that time, and a brigadier-general
by brevet. He was assigned to duty, however,
by the President, with the rank which his brevet gave
him. Worth was not so assigned, but by virtue
of commanding a division he must, under the army regulations
of that day, have drawn the pay of his brevet rank.
The question was submitted to Washington, and no response
was received until after the army had reached the
Rio Grande. It was decided against General Worth,
who at once tendered his resignation and left the army,
going north, no doubt, by the same vessel that carried
it. This kept him out of the battles of Palo
Alto and Resaca de la Palma. Either the resignation
was not accepted, or General Worth withdrew it before
action had been taken. At all events he returned
to the army in time to command his division in the
battle of Monterey, and served with it to the end
of the war.
The second occasion on which General
Taylor was said to have donned his uniform, was in
order to receive a visit from the Flag Officer of the
naval squadron off the mouth of the Rio Grande.
While the army was on that river the Flag Officer
sent word that he would call on the General to pay
his respects on a certain day. General Taylor,
knowing that naval officers habitually wore all the
uniform the “law allowed” on all occasions
of ceremony, thought it would be only civil to receive
his guest in the same style. His uniform was
therefore got out, brushed up, and put on, in advance
of the visit. The Flag Officer, knowing General
Taylor’s aversion to the wearing of the uniform,
and feeling that it would be regarded as a compliment
should he meet him in civilian’s dress, left
off his uniform for this occasion. The meeting
was said to have been embarrassing to both, and the
conversation was principally apologetic.
The time was whiled away pleasantly
enough at Matamoras, while we were waiting for volunteers.
It is probable that all the most important people
of the territory occupied by our army left their homes
before we got there, but with those remaining the
best of relations apparently existed. It was
the policy of the Commanding General to allow no pillaging,
no taking of private property for public or individual
use without satisfactory compensation, so that a better
market was afforded than the people had ever known
before.
Among the troops that joined us at
Matamoras was an Ohio regiment, of which Thomas L.
Hamer, the Member of Congress who had given me my
appointment to West Point, was major. He told
me then that he could have had the colonelcy, but
that as he knew he was to be appointed a brigadier-general,
he preferred at first to take the lower grade.
I have said before that Hamer was one of the ablest
men Ohio ever produced. At that time he was
in the prime of life, being less than fifty years
of age, and possessed an admirable physique, promising
long life. But he was taken sick before Monterey,
and died within a few days. I have always believed
that had his life been spared, he would have been
President of the United States during the term filled
by President Pierce. Had Hamer filled that office
his partiality for me was such, there is but little
doubt I should have been appointed to one of the staff
corps of the army - the Pay Department probably - and
would therefore now be preparing to retire.
Neither of these speculations is unreasonable, and
they are mentioned to show how little men control
their own destiny.
Reinforcements having arrived, in
the month of August the movement commenced from Matamoras
to Camargo, the head of navigation on the Rio Grande.
The line of the Rio Grande was all that was necessary
to hold, unless it was intended to invade Mexico from
the North. In that case the most natural route
to take was the one which General Taylor selected.
It entered a pass in the Sierra Madre Mountains, at
Monterey, through which the main road runs to the
City of Mexico. Monterey itself was a good point
to hold, even if the line of the Rio Grande covered
all the territory we desired to occupy at that time.
It is built on a plain two thousand feet above tide
water, where the air is bracing and the situation
healthy.
On the 19th of August the army started
for Monterey, leaving a small garrison at Matamoras.
The troops, with the exception of the artillery,
cavalry, and the brigade to which I belonged, were
moved up the river to Camargo on steamers. As
there were but two or three of these, the boats had
to make a number of trips before the last of the troops
were up. Those who marched did so by the south
side of the river. Lieutenant-Colonel Garland,
of the 4th infantry, was the brigade commander, and
on this occasion commanded the entire marching force.
One day out convinced him that marching by day in that
latitude, in the month of August, was not a beneficial
sanitary measure, particularly for Northern men.
The order of marching was changed and night marches
were substituted with the best results.
When Camargo was reached, we found
a city of tents outside the Mexican hamlet.
I was detailed to act as quartermaster and commissary
to the regiment. The teams that had proven abundantly
sufficient to transport all supplies from Corpus Christi
to the Rio Grande over the level prairies of Texas,
were entirely inadequate to the needs of the reinforced
army in a mountainous country. To obviate the
deficiency, pack mules were hired, with Mexicans to
pack and drive them. I had charge of the few
wagons allotted to the 4th infantry and of the pack
train to supplement them. There were not men
enough in the army to manage that train without the
help of Mexicans who had learned how. As it
was the difficulty was great enough. The troops
would take up their march at an early hour each day.
After they had started, the tents and cooking utensils
had to be made into packages, so that they could be
lashed to the backs of the mules. Sheet-iron
kettles, tent-poles and mess chests were inconvenient
articles to transport in that way. It took several
hours to get ready to start each morning, and by the
time we were ready some of the mules first loaded
would be tired of standing so long with their loads
on their backs. Sometimes one would start to
run, bowing his back and kicking up until he scattered
his load; others would lie down and try to disarrange
their loads by attempting to get on the top of them
by rolling on them; others with tent-poles for part
of their loads would manage to run a tent-pole on
one side of a sapling while they would take the other.
I am not aware of ever having used a profane expletive
in my life; but I would have the charity to excuse
those who may have done so, if they were in charge
of a train of Mexican pack mules at the time.