Robert Hall Smith

“ Well, the battle once commenced, whether right or wrong, Santa Anna looked upon the rout of Valencia as a cold spectator, sending him no assistance, after which every thing was disorder and rout on our part. You can make such commentaries as you please, but bear in mind, in order to make no mistake, that our army was composed of twenty-four or twenty-five thousand men, and that of the enemy of only twelve thousand men, and that after the actions of the 19th and 20th, our forces do not amount to over eleven thousand men, all of whom are frightened to death. ”

“ Nothing has been left for the salvation of the capital but an armistice obtained by the British Minister, as the American army is at our very gates, and we have nothing left but the dirt that flies through our streets to defend the capital—that is to say, there is no morale left among us. ”

“ We have no artillery—we have no troops—we have nothing. Our army ran at the first. We suffered yesterday a complete defeat, and still talk about making resistance! I do not disapprove of it, for it is necessary to defend the capital at its last entrenchments, because the national decorum requires it; but I repeat that it is useless.
This is the situation at present of the Mexicans, I had better say of those that unhappily are Mexicans. It is not difficult to see the future; a nation of eight millions of souls domineered over by twenty thousand vandals. ”

“ My dear Mother, it is impossible to give an idea of the present state of Mexico. It is in the most deplorable condition. Only mournful faces are seen. May the Supreme Being defend us. Do not believe all you hear, for many lies are circulated. Mother, God of Heaven alone can assist us in our trouble. Things are in a terrible state. ”

“ On Friday morning a new attack was made on Valencia, whose camp was carried by the bayonet, and he lost his artillery, and his division was either killed, taken prisoners or dispersed—but Valencia, of course, saved himself Santa Anna left San Angel so late in the morning, to return to Valencia, that he heard of Valencia's defeat on his way there to him. Every one agrees that Valencia committed a great fault in not obeying the orders of the commander-in-chief, but Santa Anna should have united all his disposable force to assist Valencia, in order to destroy the common enemy. ”

“ During the night of the 19th, a body of our troops passed along a ravine under cover of a night made doubly dark by a heavy rain, and in the morning they had gained the rear of the entrenched camp, into which they plunged headlong before the astonished Mexicans had time to put themselves in position for defence. The assault was commenced and completed in the short period of seventeen minutes, though our troops were engaged during an hour or two in picking up the scattered fragments of the proud "division of the North"—Valencia himself disappearing altogether. ”

“ It is true, that if our army had been successful we should have fallen under a Dictatorship, about which our military chiefs have so much occupied themselves, and perhaps they were dreaming of that when they were all beaten; but being beaten the same hopes remain, with this difference, that as they must have something to lean upon, that support, I suppose, will now be the Yankees. ”

“ Trains of Artillery, cannon, ammunition—all that belong to our army fell into the hands of the enemy, for the dispersion was horrid. Our loss in dead, wounded and dispersed, is reckoned at six thousand men. The loss of the enemy is said to be greater, but you know that this way of expression among us is the fashion. ”

“ It is equally proper to say, injustice to the talented and experienced gentleman selected by the government of the United States, and sent to the headquarters of Major General Scott as the commissioner to treat for peace, was trammelled by the instructions of the government, in so much, that it will remain a problem as to whether more enlarged powers would not have enabled him to have made a treaty "honorable to both nations." ”

“ This North American general, in a strange country, has fought us in detail and destroyed our large army, a thing which our general should have done with respect to his army.
It is now 5 o'clock in the afternoon, and the enemy has sent in an intimation allowing 48 hours for the evacuation of this city, so that their (his) troops may occupy it. Our troops which with great difficulty have been brought together, do not exceed eight or nine thousand men, with which we can do nothing, as they have lost their morale. ”

“ In consequence of the blow which the greater part of Valencia's division has suffered, it is thought that trouble is coming, but I think the Mexicans are still in good resolution. Although the Yankees will enter Mexico, it does not follow that they will be the conquerors of the Mexican nation. Through the misfortune we will be obliged to abandon the capital, and these bad men will remain masters of the territory they tread, and the whole nation will rise in a mass and destroy them. ”

“ To make them intelligible, some few facts must be stated, which occurred before the letters were written, and a few also which transpired after the capture of the letters; but we wish it understood that it is not our purpose to give a history of the operations of the American army before and at the Mexican capital: we speak only of what the army has done as an army. No attempt is made to do justice to individuals, and we select this course for two reasons—we wish only to make the letters intelligible, and with our information and means, we cannot hope to award what is due to all. ”

“ Impartial history will in due time do justice to all. The distinguished judgment, ability and zeal of our engineer officers of both corps, will then stand out in broad relief, and the providence and skill of our ordnance officers will also be conspicuous, and justly so, as they are not content with service under cover in the arsenals, preparing guns and ammunition, but they follow to the field their heavy ordnance, and under the fire of the enemy give practical proof of its excellence and power. ”

“ A member of Congress has just said to me that there is a commission actually sitting on this subject at the lodge.
The greatest consternation reigns in the city. Some accuse Valencia (among others the charlatan F. Carbajal) ; others, and the larger part, throw the blame on Santa Anna. The troops are at the southern gate, but I perceive much cowardice. The city is fall of dispersed, drunken, roguish soldiers. Almost all the houses are shut, and in the coffee houses the same officers are boasting a great deal whom we saw run from the battle-field ground. The end is, the capital is lost. ”

“ General Valencia had established an entrenched camp on elevated ground, which camp he occupied with his division of 5000 men from San Luis Potosi, every where in the letters spoken of as the "flower" of the Mexican army. He had twenty-three pieces of superb artillery, and was covered by a large body of cavalry.—There was firing from and upon this entrenched camp during the afternoon of the 19th of August, but no serious demonstration was made upon it that day, the time being employed by the engineers in looking at the position and studying the grounds around it ”

“ My Dear Chulela:—Wishing to relieve you of the fear and anguish so natural on account of the misfortunes that have beset us, I wrote to you and concealed the truth, but now that the danger is all over, I will speak the truth, and say that we have been completely routed, losing all of our fortifications in less than six hours. We have only a small portion of our troops left, which will leave the city to-morrow. All personal danger is now at an end, and nothing disturbs us but the sense of our calamities. The spectacle to-day has been distressing, as you can well imagine ”

“ It is said that Valencia answered the order to retire or avoid a fight with the enemy—that he thought his position advantageous, and as a Mexican and as a soldier he could not obey the orders of a traitor and a coward, &c. &c. About noon, a division of the enemy approached, which it is supposed was under the order of Scott himself, to attack San Antonio. Santa Anna ordered the few pieces of heavy ordnance he had there to be spiked, and retired with the light pieces to Churubusco, where a bloody engagement took place, and it is said that the Americans lost a great many men. ”

“ Following the retreat of our troops, we came to the bridge, where Santa Anna was found fortifying himself with activity, and where we were united with the brigade of Perez, and we heard the firing at Churubusco, which point was defended by the battalions of Independence and Bravo, who gave up very soon, and probably are prisoners. The enemy advanced against the bridge, where the firing was maintained about an hour, but in the end we lost, with a great sacrifice of men and an immense quantity of ammunition there and at Churubusco. ”

“ But each man of eight or ten thousand Americans, who had to pass that way, took a bag of dirt on his shoulders, so that on the way, with eight or ten thousand bags of dirt, they went on making the road, so that they all passed, without detention, to Tlalpam to take Tacubaya, by the way of the hills of San Angel. The Mexican forces that were in the Penon came and fortified themselves in San Antonio and Churubusco, below San Angel, while about seven or eight thousand veterans of cavalry and infantry, with thirty pieces of cannon, under Valencia, took post beyond San Angel. ”

“ Rangel's brigade was ordered to take possession of the citadel, and Santa Anna gave Perez and Bravo orders to retire from San Antonio; as San Angel being taken we were cut off by the enemy, and you can imagine the confusion and the destruction of the moral of our Army which ensued. In moving our artillery and ammunition we were put to much inconvenience and delay, for, as it had rained the night previous, the wheels stuck in the mud, and the mules, fatigued, could not haul them. ”

“ Carts might be seen, with litters, carrying the severely wounded who could not travel on foot, and from their beds of anguish was heard the most heart-rendering complaints, which were mingled with the shrieks of women who like demented people straggled about the streets without any particular object, lamenting the fate of their friends, of whose fate they were ignorant. ”

“ The ex-President Anaya and many others are prisoners, all of our artillery lost, and our regular troops dispersed or cut to pieces.
My friend, in all our misfortunes I do not particularly note, as some people will have it, that there has been any treason or any secret understanding, but I must say that there is great weakness and ignorance, and very little honor shown on the part of our generals-in-chief. We must only look to God for the salvation of our country. ”

“ Yesterday the division of Valencia and other troops from that place were routed by the Yankees—and as it may be of interest to you (at Morelia) I advise you that the troops from that place have not yet come into action. All those from Morelia are in good health, and although the Yankees have lost a good many—the devil be with them!—nevertheless, things are in a bad state. May God help us happily out. Manuel is still in Chapultepec, and it appears that they do not intend to attack that place, as they extend from the Penon to the San Antonio Abad. ”

“ Others say that Valencia was in league with the enemy, but this, to speak the truth, I cannot and shall never believe. However, the man, (Valencia,) who has been ordered to be shot by Santa Anna, has escaped through the State of Mexico, which government has received him well, which I do not understand. Should there be a Dictatorship or not, you must be very vigilant and take care of our interests, that is to say, should our territory not be benefited, that we shall not lose. ”

“ Valencia's brigade, which had sustained itself the previous day, had been flanked and attacked in front, and on both sides, after first cutting off his retreat, and of consequence he was completely routed and dispersed, except two hundred and fifty prisoners, who remained in the hands of the enemy, and twenty-three pieces of cannon. ”

“ But the enemy had placed itself so advantageously, that the camp was surrounded by a circle of fire, so constant that our troops lost spirit, and accustomed by bad luck to run, they broke up in such disorder that by 12 o'clock the camp was in the hands of the enemy, and the few troops we had left entered the capital at 3 o'clock p. m., with Gen. Santa Anna, followed by the enemy, within gun shot of the fortifications, at the gate of San Antonio Abad—from whence they returned, when some shots were fired from the fortifications. ”

“ It seems impossible that in the space of six hours, eight thousand men should have been destroyed, of which not the eighth part were killed. But our troops scarcely saw a movement of the enemy before they fled, and that without the possibility of stopping them. The battalions of Bravo and Independence were attacked in the convent of Churubusco, and taken prisoners, and it is thought that Gorostiza is of the number. ”

“ Passing by Contreras our troops, before mid-day, were in full march by San Angel and Coyoacan, towards Churubusco, where the Mexicans were in force in a church or convent strongly fortified. About five or six hundred yards beyond this convent the road by San Angel, &c., comes into that of San Antonio at a point where, by a bridge, the San Antonio road or causeway crosses a small stream, or canal, called the Churubusco river. This bridge was defended by a perfectly constructed, scientific tete-de-pont, the defences here and at the convent forming a system mutually supporting each other. ”

“ Trist has been recognized as the commissioner of the United States. To-morrow our government will listen to him. If there is prudence observed something may be arranged, and the future—God knows what it will be. That the enemy should have reached the very gates of the city is not at all strange. It was unavoidable, and conquerors cannot be restrainad. The enemy are at Tacubaya, and I will at another time give you a detailed account of Valencia's discomfiture. ”

“ He was entirely surrounded and on all sides; they fought like lions. Santa Anna cooly observed this, and did not send to our general any assistance, fearing the laurels which, against his orders, Valencia was gathering; but Valencia was overpowered and succombed, yet like a brave man. At about 7 o'clock this morning, afterwards, we were defeated at San Antonio and Churubusco. From these points the regiments of Hidalgo and Victoria were ordered to retire. ”