Battle of Buena Vista

“ On questioning a sergeant belonging to the detachment, he told me they generally marched four leagues a day, and in many places were obliged to throw the gun from its carriage, and transport each part separately for leagues at a time. This person also assured me, that he had served at the battle of Buena Vista, and with his company of infantry had marched twenty-eight leagues in forty-eight hours, with but a pint of parched Indian corn, and a quart of water per man! So far as marching, and powers of enduring privation go, I presume the Mexicans can do as much, if not more, than other nations. ”

“ The task was not without difficulty. The Mexican army was greatly more numerous. They had a splendid cavalry force and an efficient artillery. Their commander, Santa Anna, unscrupulous even for a Mexican, was yet a soldier of some ability. The Americans were mainly volunteers who had never seen war till now. The fighting was severe. At Buena-Vista the American army was attacked by a force which outnumbered it in the proportion of five to one. The battle lasted for ten hours, and the invaders were saved from ruin by their superior artillery. ”

“ Santa Anna reviewed his troops at Encarnacion. They then amounted to 14,048 men, exclusive of Miñon's cavalry division, numbering 1,200, stationed at the hacienda of Potosí, and which was ordered to advance by the pass of Palomas de adentro, and intercept the enemy then at Agua Nueva between that place and Saltillo. Rápida Ojeada, Campaña Santa Anna, 8, 11-12. American accounts place Minon's brigade at 2,000 cavalry-men. Carleton's Battle of Buena Vista, 11. Taylor estimated it at about 1,500. ”

“ BUENA VISTA.
By ALBERT PIKE.
From the Rio Grande's waters to the icy lakes of Maine,
Let all exult! for we have met the enemy again;
Beneath their stern old mountains we have met them in their pride,
And rolled from Buena Vista back the battle's bloody tide;
Where the enemy came surging swift, like the Mississippi's flood,
And the reaper, Death, with strong arms swung his sickle red with blood.
[Pg 153]
Santana boasted loudly that, before two hours were past,
His Lancers through Saltillo should pursue us fierce and fast:—
On comes his solid infantry, line marching after line ”

“ The Mexicans left thirty-five men dead upon the field, and Torrejon was severely wounded.
Meantime Santa Anna, finding that he could not drive the Americans from the plateau, planted a heavy battery of 24-pounders at its upper end, the fire from which enfiladed its whole extent. When the attack against Buena Vista failed, an attempt was made by a splendid brigade of cavalry to gain the road at a point in rear of the plateau by advancing along the ridge on which was stationed the Mississippi regiment, now strengthened by the 3d Indiana. ”

“ To the delight of the assailants, the first prize of victory was the guns O’Brien had abandoned at Buena Vista, which were regained by his own regiment. Twenty other guns and over one thousand prisoners, including eighty-eight officers and four generals, were likewise captured, and some fifteen hundred Mexicans killed and wounded. The American loss in killed, wounded, and missing was about one hundred men. ”

“ THE ANGELS OF BUENA VISTA. A letter-writer from Mexico during the Mexican war, when detailing some of the incidents at the terrible fight of Buena Vista, mentioned that Mexican women were seen hovering near the field of death, for the purpose of giving aid and succor to the wounded. One poor woman was found surrounded by the maimed and suffering of both armies, ministering to the wants of Americans as well as Mexicans, with impartial tenderness. ”

“ While the Americans were destroying the blockhouse, tank and windmill the Cubans rounded up a Spanish lieutenant and seventeen privates. These were spared and compelled to surrender. The lieutenant gave the Spanish loss in the battle at sixty-eight killed and nearly 200 wounded. Not an American was killed, and no one seriously wounded.
TRANSPORTS FILLED WITH TROOPS. After weeks of waiting and preparation the first army of invasion to start from the eastern shores of the United States departed under the command of General Shatter on the morning of June 14 at 9 o'clock. ”

“ They never wasted a shot. During that long and terrible fortnight it is said that nearly ten victims fell to each American rifle. With a thousand of his men shot down, and trembling in baffled wrath, Santa Ana on the fourteenth day, ordered another general assault. His officers drove their men to the breach at the sword's point.
When the smoke of battle had rolled away there was silence in the Alamo. The dead and dying strewed the ground. Santa Ana entered the fort. On the rampart, dead at his post, lay the commander, Travis, shot through the head. ”

“ The Spaniards declare that a force of ten thousand men is necessary to take provisions to Bayamo in safety.
But it is not alone the importance of their victory which pleases the Cubans in the capture of Las Tunas. Their great cause for rejoicing is that at this battle the Spaniards for the first time accorded them the rights of belligerents. That is to say, the Spaniards treated them as soldiers engaged in legitimate warfare, not as brigands and bandits.
The Spanish commander himself requested that the Cubans should consent to an exchange of prisoners. ”

“ Away we splashed over the marisma—their horsemen broke and fled, dragging off dead and wounded—the infantry did not make up their minds until the bayonets were nearly upon them, when they, too, dropped their muskets and plunged into the chapparal. Meanwhile the shore party was approaching, and had commenced a fusilade upon the advance post of the Mexicans, and very much to our relief, after putting them to flight, the cheers of our friends greeted us, for the field-piece was pitching shot far beyond the enemy, and a few stand of grape had already fallen about our heels. ”

“ Three gunboats were destroyed, one other was driven ashore and sunk, and another was entirely disabled. No casualties occurred on board any of the American vessels. The Spanish loss was over 100 in killed and wounded, and the Delgado, Guantanamo, Ostralia, Continola and Guardian, gunboats of the Spanish navy, were sent to join Cervera's fleet.
CHAPTER LI. THE INVASION OF PUERTO RICO. General Miles' Landing at Ponce—The American Army Received with
Cheers and Open Arms by the Native Puerto Ricans—News of Peace
Stops a Battle and Brings Hostilities to a Close. ”

“ Arista persistently refused to believe that the enemy would make any attack on the 9th. The ammunition and baggage wagons were unloaded, and the animals unharnessed; no reserve was placed to support the lines, and even when the firing began, the Mexican general remained in his tent in the rear writing despatches, disregarding reports sent in, and maintaining that it was a simple skirmish. The morale and discipline of the men were destroyed. Troops that had fought bravely on twenty battle-fields, and were accustomed to victory, retired without firing a shot ”

“ But the next step, after blockading the cities, would appear to be to follow the insurgents into the field and give them battle. This the Spaniards do not seem to consider important, nor wish to do. Flying columns of regular troops and guerrillas are sent out daily, but they always return each evening within the circle of forts. If they meet a band of insurgents they give battle readily enough, but they never pursue the enemy, and, instead of camping on the ground and following him up the next morning, they retreat as soon as the battle is over, to the town where they are stationed. ”

“ Santa Anna's presence sufficed to awe the factions, and the approach of troops caused them effectually to subside. General Valencia had brought forward the greatest force, and to him were confided 1,600 men and five guns wherewith to face the enemy. They met at Acajete on May 3d, and a fierce battle ensued. The centralists had found time to form in good order, so that when the less strong federalists fell upon them at the break of day they were warmly received. ”

“ Padre Palou says that outrages by soldiers upon the Indian women precipitated an attack upon the Spaniards, especially upon two, at one of whom the chieftain (whose wife had been outraged by the man) fired an arrow. Stopping it with his shield, the soldier levelled his musket and shot the injured husband dead. Ah! sadness of it! The unbridled passions of men of the new race already foreshadowed the death of the old race, even while the good priests were seeking to elevate and to Christianize them. This attack and consequent disturbance delayed still longer the founding of San Buenaventura. ”

“ Notwithstanding the mildness of their disposition and the inferiority of their weapons, the Central Californians do not lack courage in battle, and when captured will meet their fate with all the stoicism of a true Indian. For many years after the occupation of the country by the Spaniards, by abandoning their villages and lying in ambush upon the approach of the enemy, they were enabled to resist the small squads of Mexicans sent against them from the presidios for the recovery of deserters from the missions. ”

“ At this juncture the enemy fell upon the rear, rending the air with their yells, sending their missiles fast and furious, while from the cross-roads issued a swarm, with lance and sword, on Alvarado's flank. Over the water resounded their cries, and canoes came crowding round the causeway to attack the forward ranks. To add to the horrors of the tumult, several men and horses slipped on the wet bridge and fell into the water; others, midst heart-rending cries, were crowded over the edge by those behind. All the rest succeeded in crossing, however, except about one hundred soldiers. ”

“ Santa Anna came up with reënforcements, too late to be of any service, but the credit of the achievement, which saved the government by effectually crippling the adversary, belongs nevertheless mainly to his prompt and independent action, regardless of a timid council that sought at the last moment to prevent his departure from Mexico. [14] Among the captured was Mejía, whose dash and tactics had maintained the advantage during the earlier part of the battle. "You are to be shot within three hours," said his captor. ”

“ At this moment, when the battle was practically over, reënforcements appeared along the road skirting the northern side of Chapultepec, under the direction of Santa Anna, as if to retake the mill; but the Americans quickly brought up and unlimbered their guns, assisting the infantry to repulse them, with the loss of a field-piece. Nevertheless the proximity of the commander-in-chief with additional troops restored a certain degree of confidence among those who had retreated into the grove, and assisted indirectly the retreat of Perez. ”

“ Thus abandoned to its own resources of defence, the city of Guanajuato lay exposed to the attack of numerous bands of guerrillas who gathered round as soon as Calleja was out of sight. On the 26th that indefatigable chief Albino García occupied the hill of San Miguel with some 12,000 men, and opened fire on the city. An attempt made by a party of royalists to capture the enemy's cannon by assailing their rear failed, nearly every man being killed; and the insurgents, taking advantage of their success, pushed forward into the town, and attacked the plaza. ”

“ Mora y Villamil's column lay in strong force behind the southern ridge, and Ortega's powerful reserve was close at hand. Had Santa Anna directed a vigorous assault with these fresh troops against Angostura at this time, it would have required all the infantry and artillery on the plateau to hold the point. The plateau would have been gained; the American troops in the rear unaided by artillery would probably have been overwhelmed by numbers, and Washington overpowered by being attacked in reverse, or Saltillo and all the stores and ammunition lost. ”

“ Profiting by experience, Santa Anna had resolved to await the enemy behind the lines with the main body, while two divisions, under Valencia and Álvarez, the latter consisting of cavalry, and each of about 4,000 men, advanced in the direction of Tezcuco and Chalco respectively, prepared to fall upon the flank and rear of the assailants whenever they should attack the intrenchments. Till then no conflict was to be engaged in, save to harass the advance. The city itself possessed many natural advantages, which, with means and prudent generalship, might have rendered her wellnigh impregnable. ”

“ During 11 days' siege and bombardment, 32 more men forced their way into the fortress. Travis would neither surrender nor attempt to retreat. At last Santa Anna, on the 6th of March, ordered the assault; the stronghold was taken, and the whole garrison put to the sword. Among the slain were colonels Travis, Bowie, and David Crockett, and also twenty residents or traders of San Antonio de Béjar. Only a woman and her child and a negro servant were spared. [42]
The blood, both of Mexicans and Texans, shed at the Álamo was a useless sacrifice. ”

“ There were guerrilla parties constantly annoying the invaders, and often striking serious blows. Those under Rea in Puebla had kept Childs confined to narrow limits in that city, capturing his mules, and intercepting his supplies. In Vera Cruz the parties were under different chiefs, the most notable being Father Jarauta and J. C. Rebolledo, comprising in all about 400 men, mostly rancheros. The enemy's trains required to be strongly guarded by infantry, cavalry, and artillery, and even then they did not always escape unscathed. ”