Battle of Cerro Gordo

“ All for to keep out of the cold rain and damp night air, which is very unhealthy at this time. In the afternoon a large train from Vera Cruz arrived in our camp, bringing a large mail for our army, but, as usual, none for Jake. This train is loaded with provisions and ammunition for our division; it also brings the wounded soldiers who were left at Plan del Rio after the battle of Cerro Gordo, and it gives me pleasure to say that all of our gallant soldiers are doing as well as could be expected. They report that a good many of our wounded died at Plan del Rio. ”

“ They have now succeeded in cutting off our communication between here and Vera Cruz, but it is rumored that Gen. Frank Pierce has left Vera Cruz with fifteen hundred men, who will, if they come across them, strike terror to these national licensed highway robbers. Then our communication will again be open.
During the skirmish with the infernal guerillas, we have suffered more frightfully than at the battle of Cerro Gordo with the regular Mexican army. In fact, we would sooner face ten of the regular Mexican army than one of these outlawed guerillas. ”

“ At Cerro Gordo, a difficult pass in the mountains, the American army encountered 12,000 Mexicans under command of Santa Anna, who had, by extraordinary efforts, collected this force after his defeat at Buena Vista. The battle was fought on April 18, every movement of the American troops being directed, according to a carefully prepared plan, by General Scott. Colonel Harvey led the storming party into the pass, with a deep river on one side, and batteries belching death from lofty rocks on the other side. The Americans rushed forward with irresistible courage. They knew their enemy. ”

“ Your troops, whose devotion and valor we admire, have been badly led, and even betrayed or deceived; and he has not only rewarded those who waged civil war at Mexico, but insulted the brave defenders of Vera Cruz. Recently the battle at Cerro Gordo showed what you may expect from him. Everywhere generals long supported in idleness by the nation have exhibited a lack of honor or skill, while the dead or wounded soldiers, abandoned on the field, have not been given by their leaders even the poor recompense of a grave. ”

“ They stormed, at a loss, Cerro Gordo—
Every mile in their movement it cost;
And when they arrived at Puebla,
Some thousands of men they had lost.
“Ere our capital fell, and the city
By foreign invaders was won,
We called out among its defenders
Each man who could handle a gun.
Chapultepec stood in their pathway;
Churubusco they had to attack;
The Mill of the King—well, I fought there,
And they were a hard nut to crack.
“While their right was assailing the ramparts,
Our force struck their left on the field,
Where our colonel, in language that stirred us,
To love of our country appealed. ”

“ From Plan del Bio an old road led up to the fortifications on the right of the Mexican position. By consulting the accompanying plan the reader will obtain a correct idea of the battle-field.
Battle-Field of Cerro Gordo. Strong as was Santa Anna s position, he made a fatal mistake in neglecting to fortify the Atalaya. To the advice of his engineers and the urgent representations of his generals on this matter he turned a deaf ear, telling the former that not even rabbits could ascend the height, and insulting the latter by remarking that cowards nowhere felt themselves safe. ”

“ He at once commenced his preparations for the capture of the position held by Santa Anna and of the troops holding it.
Cerro Gordo is one of the higher spurs of the mountains some twelve to fifteen miles east of Jalapa, and Santa Anna had selected this point as the easiest to defend against an invading army. The road, said to have been built by Cortez, zigzags around the mountain-side and was defended at every turn by artillery. On either side were deep chasms or mountain walls. A direct attack along the road was an impossibility. A flank movement seemed equally impossible. ”

“ From other parts of the field, though in a different direction and more distant, I could hear many voices speaking in a similar strain, in tones of agonised appeal, low mutterings, mingled with moanings, where some mutilated foeman was struggling in the throes of death, and vainly calling for help that came not.
On that night, from the field of Cerro Gordo, many a soul soared upward to eternity—many a brave man went to sleep with unclosed eyes, a sleep from which he was never more to awaken. ”

“ Sixty miles from Vera Cruz the American forces came to the mountain-pass of Cerro Gordo, where Santa Anna, the president of Mexico, awaited the invaders with an army of thirteen thousand men. The heights overhanging the road bristled with guns, and the lofty hill of Cerro Gordo was strongly fortified, rendering the place almost impregnable to an attack from the direction of Vera Cruz. ”

“ With a constancy equal to anything recorded of the Roman Senate, the Mexican Congress, on learning the defeat at Cerro Gordo, had voted unanimously that any one opening negotiations with the enemy should be deemed a traitor, and the citizens with one accord had ratified the vote. Within six months Mexico had lost two splendid armies in two pitched battles against the troops now advancing against the capital ”

“ STORMING OF THE HEIGHTS OF CERRO GORDO. division, cavalry excepted, were then well advanced on the principal line of attack, was assigned the task of driving the enemy from the hill of Cerro Gordo, and cutting off their retreat by the Jalapa road; General Shields was directed to reinforce General Twiggs with one or more of the regiments of his brigade, as circumstances might render necessary; and General Worth was ordered to follow the movement on the enemy's left, and support it, with his division, at sunrise on the 18th. ”

“ The men yelled—a Cerro Gordo shout. They stumbled, fell, splashed into ditches four feet wide. Lieutenant Grant was running and waving his sword in front of his company. All the officers were cheering on their men. The breastworks loomed higher, the cannon muzzles gaped wider.
The line swept on; the front rank began to climb—the men slipping and clutching and clinging, and ever advancing their muskets to pull trigger. Over they went with yells renewed; up and over went the rear rank, and over went the fifers and drummers, tumbling into the cheering mass. ”

“ But already, at Palo Alto and Resaca, against the serried lines and thronging cavalry of the Mexicans, light field-guns had done extraordinary execution. The heavy artillery, hitherto the more favoured service, saw itself eclipsed. The First Regiment, however, had already been prominent on the fighting line. It had won reputation with the bayonet at Cerro Gordo, and before Mexico was reached there were other battles to be fought, and other positions to be stormed. A youth with a predilection for hard knocks might have been content with the chances offered to the foot-soldier. ”

“ More than 4000 stand of arms, old and not worth using, were destroyed; and about forty cannon, which Scott had no means of transporting, were rendered unserviceable and left at Cerro Gordo. The Mexican casualties were estimated at 1000 or 1200, while the American loss during the two days amounted to only thirty officers and 387 men, of whom sixty-four were killed. ”

“ On Monday, May 3, I shall move on with General Patterson’s advance, in charge of the engineer train, to join the engineer corps with Worth.
The brilliant conflict of Cerro Gordo came upon the Mexicans like a thunderbolt, and is the most decisive blow of the war. The road is free to the City of Mexico, and I have no doubt General Scott will be there in six weeks. It is said the Mexicans will resort to the guerrilla mode of warfare. It will be found worse than useless. It will be found of assistance to our arms. ”

“ Cerro Gordo was conquered—brilliant victories, that do great honor to our army; and finally, the gates of the city of Mexico fell prostrate to our conquering arms.—Well, sir, have the avowed objects of the war been effected? Have we conquered a peace? Have we succeeded in effecting a treaty? Are we offered indemnity? No, sir, not a single object avowed by the President, has been accomplished. No, Mr. President, the object is farther off than ever. Now, sir, I ask what has caused the complete discomfiture of our measure?
We cannot charge the failure upon our troops. ”

“ The forces thus in position, according to the Mexican account, amounted to three thousand three hundred and seventy men with fifty-two pieces of ordnance of various calibre. The remainder of the army, with the exception of the cavalry, which remained at Corral Falso until the 15th, was encamped on the sides of the road at the rancheria of Cerro Gordo, situated in the rear of the position. In this neighborhood was placed the reserve, composed of the 1st, 2nd 3rd and 4th light infantry, comprising 1,700 men ”

“ The road so far was horrible, being hilly and very sandy. Our mules were so weak and miserable that the men actually had to push the wagons along, and it was easy to see that our march was to be very severe upon all concerned. General Worth and his staff passed us as we were busily engaged in “cussing” a team up a hill—we then learned for the first time that Santa Anna was at Cerro Gordo with a large force. ”

“ After a sharp fight with 2,000 convicts whom the fugitive President had released, the invaders occupied the city, and the war was virtually at an end. From Cerro Gordo to Chapultepec the power of discipline had triumphed. An army of 30,000 men, fighting in their own country, and supported by a numerous artillery, had been defeated by an invading force of one-third the strength. Yet the Mexicans had shown no lack of courage. “At Chapultepec and Molino del Rey, as on many other occasions,” says Grant, “they stood up as well as any troops ever did.” [12] But their officers were inexperienced ”

“ News had come that wherever the Americans took possession, odious taxes were abolished and trade became brisk. Scott's treatment of the people shone in comparison with Santa Anna's, and his soldiers looked. angelic beside the guerillas. The defeat at Cerro Gordo caused not only deep discouragement but even deeper disgust, for the men and money of the state had been sacrificed to the incompetence of the commanders. Besides, marvels were told of the Americans. 'They could hew a man asunder at one stroke; their horses were gigantic and incredibly swift; their artillery was unspeakably terrible ”

“ Charles Naylor, of the Second Pennsylvania, who, contrary to instructions, with about two hundred men, charged on the enemy's batteries; and, of course, were repulsed. And I, for one, protest against having this manchar (stigma) cast upon the whole volunteer division, on account of these crazy fools, who disobeyed orders.
The victory of Cerro Gordo was complete; The well-equipped and magnificently uniformed army of Gen. Santa Anna's was routed in all directions, and Col. Harney's dragoons pursued the flying enemy hotly, and cut down their scattered columns until they reached Jalapa. ”

“ Captains James Nelson Caldwell, of the Voltigeurs, and Arthur C. Cummings, Eleventh Infantry, were severely wounded. Nine enlisted men were wounded, one mortally. The Mexican loss is not known. On August 12th the command reached Puente Nacional and found the Mexicans in considerable force, strongly barricaded. An artillery fire was opened on them and they were driven back. The American loss in this affair was sixty killed and wounded. On approaching the battlefield of Cerro Gordo they were again attacked, and sustained a loss of one killed and {216}eight wounded. ”

“ During our encampment here our men have been busy at work in making and cutting new roads and planting batteries in different positions, and making other preparations for the attack on the heights of Cerro Gordo. ”

“ April 18 storms and captures the heights of Cerro Gordo, sixty miles inland, where his 8000 men are opposed by 12,000 under Santa Anna. Three thousand prisoners, among them five generals, are taken; 5000 stands of arms and forty-three pieces of artillery. American loss, 431, thirty-three being officers; Mexican casualties, over 1000.
April 19 he occupies the town of Jalapa, fifteen miles onward. April 22 the castle of Perote, some fifty miles farther, is captured without a struggle. On May 15 the advance division of 4300 men enters the city of Puebla, 185 miles from Vera Cruz. ”

“ The American infantry now charged the Mexican line; for a time, the latter fought desperately, and sustained themselves with stubborn bravery; but, at length, yielding to necessity, they precipitately fled from the field. In this battle, only the outlines of which we give, the Americans captured eight pieces of artillery, several standards, large military stores, and several hundred prisoners. The loss of the Americans, in both these actions, was three officers and forty men killed. Besides the officers already named, was Lieutenant Cochrane. Thirteen officers and one hundred men were wounded. ”

“ The battle during the 15th was severe, but favorable to the Union troops, and continued until night closed in upon the combat. The next day the battle was renewed. After a successful assault upon Hood's men in their intrenchments the enemy fled in disorder, routed and broken, leaving their dead, their artillery and small arms in great numbers on the field, besides the wounded that were captured. Our cavalry had fought on foot as infantry, and had not their horses with them; so that they were not ready to join in the pursuit the moment the enemy retreated. ”