History of the War Between Mexico and the United States with a Preliminary View of its Origin Part 12

While these actions were occurring on our right under the eye of General Taylor, the Mexicans had made a serious attempt against our left. The smoke hung densely over the field and bushes so as almost to obscure the armies from each other, and under cover of this misty veil and of approaching night, the enemy suddenly rushed towards that wing and the train with an immense body of cavalry and infantry under the command of Colonel Montero. The movement was rapid and daring, but it did not escape the quick eye of Duncan, who dashed back with his battery to the left flank in full view of the enemy and engaged them within point blank range of his deadly guns. So sudden and unexpected was this gallant manoeuvre to the enemy, who, a moment before, saw this battery disappear in the opposite direction behind the smoke of the burning prairie,--that their whole column halted in amazement before a shot had been fired or a gun unlimbered. But they were neither repulsed nor dismayed. A strong body of infantry, supported by two squadrons of cavalry, debouched from the extreme right of the chapparal, and moved steadily forward to attack us. One section of Duncan's battery began to play upon them with round shot, sh.e.l.ls, and spherical case, so well directed that the whole advance, both horse and foot, fell back in disorder to the bushes. Meantime the other section opened upon the ma.s.ses of cavalry that halted at the first sight of our approaching guns, and although these shots were well delivered and each tore a vista through an entire squadron, the enemy remained unshaken. At every discharge the havoc was frightfully destructive, but the gaps in the Mexican ranks were immediately closed with fresh hors.e.m.e.n as they pressed on to a.s.sail us.

The column of cavalry and infantry, driven back into the chapparal by the other section, re-formed in the thicket, and, a second time, dauntlessly advanced in order. After it approached about a hundred yards from the screen of bushes, the section that was previously ordered to repel it, re-opened a deadly fire and drove the foe head long into the forest. The supporting cavalry rushed back upon the ranks that hitherto withstood our shot, and the hurried retreat became a perfect rout.

Squadron after squadron joined tumultuously in the race, and the whole right wing of the Mexicans was soon in rapid flight, while our relentless sections continued to send their vollies into the broken and scampering columns until they disappeared in the chapparal or were lost in the darkness of night. Thus ended the brilliant affair of Palo Alto.

The enemy retired behind a protecting wood, and our army bivouacked on the ground it had won and occupied during the protracted fight.

Both parties slept on the battle field. It had been a fierce and dreadful pa.s.sage of arms, yet it was not a decided victory. We had repulsed the Mexicans, fatally, in every attempt; we had gained a better position, enabling us to press onward towards Matamoros, and had inflicted serious injury on the foe; but the enemy still rested on their arms and seemed disposed to dispute the field with us again on the morrow. They were sadly crippled though not defeated, and had exhibited a degree of nerve, mettle, and firmness that was entirely unexpected from the vanquished soldiery of San Jacinto.

Wearied by the excessive labor of nearly six hours fighting, our infantry and artillery sank on the ground wherever they found a resting place, whilst the alert dragoons circled the sleeping camp and rode on their outposts, among heaps of the enemy whose dying groans were heard on all sides from the thickets to which they had crept. All night long the medical staff was busy in its work of mercy, while the officers who felt the dangerous responsibility of their situation collected in groups to discuss their prospects. Some were doubtful of success, some anxious to obtain reinforcements, some full of hope and animation, but all were satisfied that it was prudent to hold a council on the impending fortunes of the army. After a full examination of the difficulties and a proper display of their resources, the enthusiasm of the young and the experience of the old, alike, sanctioned the heroic determination of Taylor to advance without succor. This brave resolve rea.s.sured the army, and all prepared with alacrity and confidence for the dangers of the 9th.

FOOTNOTES:

[107] Lieutenant Blake died about the time our fight commenced at Resaca de la Palma, on the 9th, from a wound inflicted by one of his own pistols. He had thrown his sword, to which his pistols were attached, on the ground on entering his tent. One pistol was discharged accidentally in the fall, and the ball entered his thigh, but was cut out of his breast. He died three hours afterwards.

[108] Ringgold died the day after the battle, but Page survived some time though he was shockingly mangled by the ball which shot off the lower part of his face.

CHAPTER VII.

The Battle of Resaca de la Palma--Defence of Fort Brown--The Great Western.

When the sun rose on the morning of the 9th a mist of mingled smoke and vapor hung over the battle field of Palo Alto, but, as the haze lifted from the levels, the Mexicans were perceived retreating by their left flank, in order, perhaps, to gain a more advantageous position on the road in which they might resist our progress towards Matamoros. This movement inspirited our troops, who, craving the interest of a new position, were loath to repeat the battle of yesterday on the same field. Accordingly General Taylor ordered the supply train to be parked at its position and left under the guard of two twelve-pounders and the fatal eighteens which had done such signal service on the 8th. The wounded men and officers were next despatched to Point Isabel, and we then moved across the Llano Burro towards the edge of the dense chapparal which extends for a distance of seven miles to the Rio Grande.

The light companies of the first brigade under Captain Smith, of the second artillery; and a select detachment of light troops, all commanded by Captain McCall, were thrown forward into the thickets to feel the enemy and ascertain the position he finally took.

In our advance we crossed the ground occupied by the Mexicans on the 8th where their line had been mowed by our artillery. Shattered limbs, riven skulls, slain and wounded horses, dying men, military accoutrements, gun stocks and bayonets lay strewn around, the terrible evidences of war and havoc. As our men pressed on they encountered, at every step, appeals to their humanity, from the famished and thirsty remnants of the Mexican army whose wounds did not permit them to advance with their compatriots; but it may be recorded to the honor of the troops, that our maimed enemies were in no instance left without succor, and that officers and men vied with each other in relieving their wants and despatching them to our hospitals.

About three o'clock in the afternoon a report was sent from the scouts that the enemy were again in position on the road, which they held with at least two pieces of artillery. The command was immediately put in motion, and, about an hour after, came up with Captain McCall.

The field of Palo Alto was an open plain, well adapted for the fair fight of a pitched battle, but Resaca de la Palma, which we now approached, possessed altogether different features. The position was naturally strong, and had been judiciously seized by the Mexicans. The matted ma.s.ses of chapparal, sprinkled in spots with small patches of prairie, formed an almost impa.s.sable barrier on both sides of the road along which we were forced to advance. The Resaca de la Palma, or, Ravine of the Palm, fifty yards wide and nearly breast high, crosses the road at right angles, and then bends, at both ends, in the shape of a horse shoe. The low portions of the gully are generally filled with water, forming long and winding ponds through the prairie, whilst, in the rainy season, these pools unite across the ridge which forms the road and flow off towards the Rio Grande. Along the banks of this ravine the thickets of chapparal, nourished by the neighboring water, grow more densely than elsewhere, and, at the period of the battle, formed a solid wall penetrated only by the highway.

It was along the edges of this hollow that the Mexicans, led by Arista and Ampudia, had posted themselves in two lines,--one under the front declivity, and the other entrenched behind the copse of chapparal which shielded the bank in the rear. In the centre of each line, on the right and left of the road, a battery was placed, whilst other batteries were disposed so as to a.s.sail us in flank. In this strongly fortified position, supported by infantry, cavalry and ordnance, several thousand Mexicans stood around the curving limits of the ravine, ready to rake us with their terrible cross-fires as we advanced by the road between the horns of the crescent.[109]

It will be perceived, from this description, that the character of the action was essentially changed from the affair of the 8th. Almost entrenched as were the Mexicans behind the ravine and chapparal, they now stood on the defensive resolutely awaiting our a.s.sault, whilst, at Palo Alto, they had a.s.sumed an offensive att.i.tude, aiming either to capture or destroy our army.

In the pa.s.sage of our troops between Matamoros and Point Isabel, the practiced eye of our military men often remarked the value of this ravine as a point of strength; and it had been already supposed that when the enemy halted, to resist our march, they would avail themselves of it for a battle ground. Hence this excellent position was not unknown to General Taylor, and he promptly prepared a combined attack of infantry, artillery and cavalry by which he might succeed in driving the American army like a wedge, through the narrow but only aperture that admitted its transit to our fort.

Accordingly, as soon as Captain McCall received his orders, in the earlier part of the day, he advanced with his men, and directed Captain C. F. Smith, of the second artillery, with the light company of the first brigade, to move to the right of the road, whilst he proceeded on the left with a detachment of artillery and infantry. Walker and a small force of rangers was despatched to make a hazardous reconnoissance of the road in front, while Lieutenant Plesanton, with a few of the second dragoons, marched in rear of the columns of infantry.

After following the trail of the enemy for about two miles and a half across the Llano Burro, and learning from Walker that the road was clear, McCall pushed the rangers into the chapparal, within supporting distance, and soon dislodged some parties of Mexicans. On reaching the open ground near Resaca, the head of his column received three rounds of canister from a masked battery, which forced his men to take cover, after killing one private and wounding two sergeants. They rapidly rallied however, and Captain Smith's detachment being brought to the left of the road, it was proposed to attack by a flank movement, what, at the moment, was supposed to be only the rear guard of the retiring army. But after a quick examination of the field by Dobbins and McCoun, who discovered large bodies of Mexicans in motion on our left, while the road, in front, was held by lancers, McCall resolved to despatch three dragoons to the commander in chief with the news and await his arrival.

It was about four o'clock in the afternoon that General Taylor came up with the skirmishers and received an exact report of the enemy's position. Lieutenant Ridgely, who, upon the Major's fall, had succeeded to the command of Ringgold's battery, was immediately ordered to advance on the highway, while the fifth infantry and one wing of the fourth were thrown into the chapparal with McCall's command on the left, at the same time that the third and the other wing of the fourth entered the thicket on the right with Smith's detachment. These corps were employed to cover the battery, to act as skirmishers, and engage the Mexican infantry. The action, at once became general, spirited and b.l.o.o.d.y, for although the enemy's infantry gave way before the steady fire and resistless progress of our own, yet his artillery was still in position to check our advance by means of the fatal pieces which commanded the pa.s.s through the ravine.

This was the moment, however, when the centre was destined to be penetrated and broken--Ridgely, as has been stated, had been ordered to the road, and, after advancing cautiously for a short distance, he descried the enemy about four hundred yards in advance. Pressing onward until within perfect range of his guns he began to play upon the foe with deadly discharges. But the resolute Mexicans were not to be repulsed. Returning shot for shot, their grape surged through our battery in every direction, yet without repulsing the intrepid Ridgely, who, as soon as the opposing fire slackened, limbered up and moved rapidly forward, never unlimbering unless he perceived the enemy in front or found from the fire of their infantry that they still hung upon his flank. During this fierce advance into the jaws of the Mexican crescent, he frequently threw into it discharges of canister when not over one hundred yards from the opposing batteries and their support.

After hammering the centre for some time with this iron hail, and keeping the wings of the Mexicans engaged with the other troops, a movement with dragoons was planned for the final onslaught. May, with his powerful corps, was directed to report to the general, and immediately received orders from Taylor to charge the enemy's battery.

Thridding the mazes of the chapparal and of the road with his dense squadron he came up with Ridgely, and halting a moment while that gallant soldier poured a volley into the enemy, which was answered by a shower of rattling grape, he dashed at the head of his troopers, like lightning from the midst of the cloud of smoke, over the guns of the astonished Mexicans. As the dragoons rushed at full tilt, with gleaming swords, along the road, the artillerists leaped upon their pieces and cheered them on. The infantry in the chapparal took up the shout, and before the combined thunder of cannon, huzzas, and galloping cavalry had died away, May and his troopers had charged through the seven opposing pieces, and rose again on the heights in rear of the ravine. Graham, Winship and Plesanton led the movement on the left of the road, whilst the captain, with Inge, Stevens and Sackett, bore off to the right. But, after gaining the elevation, only six dragoons could be rallied, and with these May charged back upon the gunners who had regained their pieces, drove them off, and took prisoner the brave La Vega who stood to his unwavering artillery during the heat of the dreadful onslaught.

Meanwhile Ridgely, as soon as May had pa.s.sed him, followed the charge at a gallop, only halting on the edge of the ravine where he found three pieces of deserted artillery. Here the Mexican infantry poured into him a galling fire at a distance of not more than fifty paces, and a most desperate and murderous struggle ensued, for the charge of cavalry had not been promptly sustained by the infantry in consequence of the difficulty it experienced in struggling through the ma.s.ses of chapparal.

It was about this time that the eighth regiment was encountered by May who informed Colonel Belknap of the exploit which had been rendered almost unavailing for want of supporting infantry. Belknap promptly ordered the regiment to form on the road with a part of the fifth, whence, it was impetuously charged on the enemy's guns. This admirable a.s.sault was executed with the greatest celerity; the battery was secured; the infantry sprang across the ravine amidst a sheet of fire from front and right, and drove the supporting column before it, destroying in vast numbers the troops that pertinaciously resisted until forced headlong from the fatal hollow. Montgomery with his regiment pursued the Mexicans vigorously into the chapparal on the opposite side of the Resaca until from their rapid flight, further attempts were utterly useless.

Thus was the centre of the enemy's lines completely broken. The task would be endless were I to recount the valiant deeds of the American and Mexican wings in the thickets on the right and left of the road. It was a short but severe onset, disputed on both sides, with an intrepidity that resembled rather the bitterness of a personal conflict than a regular battle. The nature of the ground among the groves was such as to forbid any thing but close quarters and the use of the bayonet, knife, or sword. Officers and men fought side by side, supporting more than leading each other upon the opposing ranks. Bayonets were crossed, swords clashed, stalwart arms held foes at bay, and American and Mexican rolled side by side on the blood stained earth.

I have dwelt upon the action in the centre because it controlled the road, dispersed the foe and won the day; but the effort would be invidious were I to relate instances of individual hardihood and skill, when all the valiant actors in the drama were fearless and unfaltering.

The charge of May was not unlike the a.s.sault at Waterloo of Ponsonby's victorious cavalry, supported by Vandeleur's light horse, upon the twenty-four pieces of D'Erlon's battery; in regard to which Napoleon was heard to exclaim, in the heat of the battle,--"How terribly those gray hors.e.m.e.n fight!" But in that conflict, Frenchmen opposed the Anglo-saxons, and Milhaud's steel clad cuira.s.siers, charging Ponsonby's brigade after it had carried the guns and attacked even a third line of artillery and lancers, readily overcame the exhausted troopers and slew their gallant leader.

At Resaca de la Palma, however the result was different. The artillery battalion, which, with the exception of the flank companies, had been ordered to guard the train on the morning of the 9th, was now ordered up to pursue the routed enemy; and the third infantry, Ker's dragoons and Duncan's battery followed the Mexicans rapidly to the river. Shouting, singing, almost frantic with delight at their eminent success, our men rushed after the flying Mexicans. The pursuit became a perfect rout as they pressed on to the banks of the Rio Grande, and numbers of the enemy were drowned in attempting the pa.s.sage of the fatal stream. The pursuing corps encamped near the Rio Grande, while the remainder of the army rested for the night on the field of battle. The want of a _ponton train_[110] prevented us from following the foe across the river on the night of the 9th; but, as the government had failed to provide General Taylor with that useful equipage, notwithstanding his frequent warnings of its need, he was deprived of the first chance in this war to annihilate the Mexican army and to seize all the arms and ammunition collected in Matamoros. The capture, however, of Arista's camp and its equipage was a recompense for our men who had fought so bravely. The Mexican chief had gone into the campaign with every comfort around him, and was evidently unprepared for defeat at Resaca de La Palma, for, at the moment of our victory, his camp-kettles were found simmering over the fires filled with viands from which he had doubtless designed to make a savory meal after our capture. The food however was destined to other uses; and, after a communication with the fort which held out staunchly against the enemy during both contests, our men sat down to enjoy the repast which the Mexicans had cooked.

Unable as we were to secure the best results of victory, from the cause already narrated, these battles were, nevertheless, of great importance.

We had achieved success in the face of brave foes outnumbering us more than two to one, and had conquered an army of Mexican veterans, perfectly equipped and appointed. In the battle of Palo Alto our force, engaged, had been one hundred and seventy-seven officers, two thousand one hundred and eleven men, or an aggregate of two thousand two hundred and eighty-eight;--in the action of Resaca de la Palma we brought into the field one hundred and seventy-three officers and two thousand and forty nine men, or, an aggregate of two thousand two hundred and twenty-two, while the actual number _engaged_ with the enemy did not exceed seventeen hundred. In the first affair we had nine killed, forty-four wounded[111] and two missing; but in the second, our loss was three officers and thirty-six men killed, and seventy-one wounded.

Lieutenant Inge fell at the head of his platoon while charging with May; Lieutenants Cochrane and Chadburne likewise met their death in the thickest of the fight; while Lieutenant Colonels Payne and McIntosh; Captains Montgomery and Hooe; and Lieutenants Fowler, Dobbins, Gates, Jordan, Selden, Maclay, Burbank and Morris, were wounded on the field of Resaca de la Palma.

The Mexican army, under Arista and Ampudia, amounted to at least six thousand men, having been strongly reinforced with cavalry and infantry after the battle of the 8th; and it is highly probable that the whole of this force was opposed to us in their choice position. In one of his despatches, after the battles, Arista confesses that he still had under arms four thousand troops exclusive of numerous auxiliaries, and that he lost in the affair at Palo Alto four officers and ninety-eight men killed;--eleven officers and one hundred and sixteen men wounded, and twenty-six privates and non-commissioned officers missing;--while in the battle of Resaca de la Palma, six officers and one hundred and fifty-four men were slain; twenty-three officers and two hundred and five wounded, and three officers and one hundred and fifty-six missing,--making a total loss of seven hundred and fifty-five. Eight pieces of artillery, several colors and standards, a great number of prisoners, including fourteen officers, and a large quant.i.ty of camp equipage, muskets, small arms, mules, horses, pack-saddles, subsistence, personal baggage, and private as well as regimental papers, fell into our hands. The plan of campaign, as alleged to have been developed by Arista's port-folio, was based upon the "reconquest of the lost province," into which the Mexican forces were to have been pushed as soon as our army was demolished on the Rio Grande. If it should be necessary to secure the fruits of victory by further military efforts, it was arranged that ample reinforcements were to be brought into the field, and subsequently that President Paredes, himself, should march an army of occupation into Texas and bear his conquering eagles to the Sabine!

After this narrative of our actions in the field let us recur for a moment to the gallant garrison which had been shut up in the fort since the beginning of the month, and in regard to whose fate the liveliest anxiety was experienced.

When the commander-in-chief departed on the 1st of May to open the line of communication with Point Isabel, prevent an attack upon the depot, and, finally, to succor the fort with subsistence and munitions, the field work, though capable of defence, was not completed. The events of the few preceding days had denoted a resolution on the part of the Mexicans to a.s.sail us immediately, and warned our small garrison to prepare for all emergencies. Accordingly the labor of ditching and embanking on the unfinished front was resumed; but neither the draw-bridge nor the interior defences were yet commenced, and to all these works, Mansfield, with his engineers and detachments of infantry, devoted themselves unceasingly during the whole of the bombardment, which began at day-break, on Sunday, the 3d of May.

The Mexicans had been engaged for some time erecting fortifications along the river front of their town opposite our field work, and by this time had prepared them for action. They commenced their attack from the fort and mortar battery called _La redonda_, which they had placed under the orders of a French officer of artillery, who manifested a perfect knowledge of his profession during the conflict.

Nine pieces of ordnance,--four omortars, and the remainder six and eight-pounders,--poured into our works an incessant shower of shot and sh.e.l.ls; but our batteries returned the fire so effectually, that in thirty minutes, _La redonda_ was abandoned. Pa.s.sing from this fortification to another lower down, the enemy again opened upon us from _La fortina de la flecha_, as well as from intermediate batteries and a mortar in their vicinity. It soon became evident that our six-pounders produced no serious effects in consequence of the distance; and, desiring to husband his resources for greater emergencies, Major Brown ordered the firing to cease entirely on our side of the river. The garrison had been left with only one hundred and fifty rounds of ammunition for each eighteen-pounder while the six-pounders were as badly provided!

The silence of our guns in the presence of an a.s.sailing foe, disheartened our men for an instant, but they immediately betook themselves energetically to their task on the defences, though the enemy's sh.e.l.ls exploded in every direction about them. On the 4th the Mexicans again resumed the fight and continued their vollies until midnight. At nine o'clock on that evening irregular discharges of musketry were heard in our rear apparently extending a mile up the river, and continuing until near the termination of the cannonade. Every soldier in the fort therefore stood to his arms all night long, manning each battery and point of defence in expectation of an a.s.sault from the forces that had crossed the river and filled the adjacent plains and thickets. But the anxious night pa.s.sed without an attack at close quarters, and, at day-light, on the 5th, the enemy again commenced their fire from the distant batteries. The sound of war was gratifying to the Mexicans, but its conflicts were safer from behind the walls and parapets of their forts, with an intervening river, than in dangerous charges against the muzzles of our guns! As soon as the cannonade recommenced, it was immediately returned by a few discharges from the eighteen-pounders and six-pounder-howitzer; and the voice of our guns once more exhilarated the men, though their shots were ineffectual. Both batteries ceased firing simultaneously, and our indefatigable soldiers again set to work on the defences, completed the ramparts, and made rapid progress in the construction of a bomb-proof and traverse in rear of the postern.

These were anxious days and hours for a garrison short of ammunition, a.s.sailed by an enemy equipped with every species of deadly missile, probably surrounded by superior numbers concealed on the left bank of the river, and yet forced to labor on the very fortifications which were to keep off the foe. During all this time, however, no one desponded.

Day and night they toiled incessantly on the works amid the shower of shot and bombs, nor was a sound of sorrow heard within the little fort until its brave commander fell, mortally wounded by a sh.e.l.l, on the 6th of May. The game was kept up during all this day; mounted men were seen along the prairie, while infantry were noticed creeping through the thickets; but a few rounds of canister, from Bragg's battery, dispersed the a.s.sailants.

About four o'clock of this day a white flag was observed at some old buildings in the rear of our work, and a parley was sounded by the enemy. Two officers were soon descried approaching us, and an equal number were despatched by Captain Hawkins, (who had succeeded Major Brown in the command of the fort,) to meet them within two hundred and fifty yards of our lines. A communication from General Arista was delivered by the herald, and the Mexicans were requested to retire a short distance and await the reply.

In this doc.u.ment Arista declared that our fort was surrounded by forces adequate to its capture, while a numerous division, encamped in the neighborhood, was able to keep off all succors that might be expected.

He alleged that his respect for humanity urged him to mitigate as much as possible the disasters of war, and he therefore summoned our garrison to surrender, in order to avoid by capitulation, the entire destruction of the command. This mingled mission of humanity and revenge demanded the immediate notice of our troops, and, accordingly, a brief council was held in which it was unanimously resolved to decline the philanthropic proposal. Hawkins, at once despatched his courteous but firm reply, and the enemy acknowledged its receipt by a storm of shot and sh.e.l.l which was literally showered into the works.

It would be but repeating a narrative of one day's scenes were we to detail the events of the 7th, 8th and 9th of May. The bravado contained in Arista's despatch, had failed in its effort to intimidate us; nevertheless we were compelled to undergo the severest task that a soldier can suffer in pa.s.sive non-resistance, whilst the enemy, from afar, strove to bury our fort under the weight of their projectiles.

Bombs and shot were, however, unavailing. The defences proved equal to our perfect protection; and all continued to work cheerfully in the trenches until the distant sounds of battle were heard booming from Palo Alto and Resaca. Anxiety was dispelled, and hope ripened into certainty as the cannonade grew louder and drew nearer the river, until, at last, on the evening of the ninth, the Mexican squadrons raced past the fort and received the reserved shot of the eighteens which poured their ma.s.ses of grape among the flying groups. As our pursuing forces rushed out from behind the thickets and beheld the American flag still aloft in the works, they sent forth a cheer which was answered by the rejoicing garrison, and the valley of the Rio Grande reverberated with the exultation of delight. Victory and relief; a routed foe and succored friends, enlivened every heart, and even the foremost and bitterest in pursuit halted a moment to exchange congratulations upon the events of the glorious day.

Thus the separate forces of the United States were again brought together; and FORT BROWN,--which now received its name from the brave Major who died on the 9th,--was found to have lost but two by death and only fourteen wounded during the whole bombardment.

Every war produces its singular characters whose influence or example are not without their due effect upon the troops, and, at the conclusion of these chapters, which are so stained with blood and battle, it may not be useless to sketch, even upon the grave page of history, the deeds of a woman whose courageous spirit bore her through all the trials of this bombardment, but whose masculine hardihood was softened by the gentleness of a female heart. Woman has every where her sphere of power over the rougher s.e.x, but the women of a camp must possess qualities to which their tender sisters of the saloon are utter strangers.

Some years ago, in the far west, a good soldier joined one of our regiments, with his tall and gaunt wife, whose lofty figure and stalwart frame almost ent.i.tled her as much as her husband to a place in the ranks of the gallant seventh. Unwilling to abandon her liege lord upon his enlistment, this industrious female was immediately employed as one of the laundresses, three of whom are allowed to draw rations in each company, and are required to wash for the soldiers at a price regulated by a council of officers. The "Great Western,"--for by this soubriquet was she known in the army,--arrived at Corpus Christi with her husband, and up to the period of our departure for the Rio Grande performed all her appropriate duties, keeping, in addition, a "mess" for the younger officers of the regiment. When the army advanced, the women, with some exceptions, were despatched by sea to Point Isabel, while a few procured ponies to follow the soldiers in their tedious march. The husband of the Great Western was sent in one of the transports to the Brazos, but his hardy spouse did not deign to accompany him in this comfortable mode of transit, declaring that "the boys of her mess must have some one to take care of them on their toilsome march." Accordingly, having purchased a cart and loaded it with luggage, cooking utensils, and supplies, she mounted behind her donkey with whip in hand, and displayed during the wearisome advance, qualities which the best teamster in the train might have envied. Throughout the whole journey she kept her boarders well provided with excellent rations; and, when her brigade reached the banks of the Colorado she was one of the first who offered to cross in the face of the resisting enemy. After calmly surveying the scene, which has been described in another chapter, she remarked, with great coolness, that "if the general would give her a stout pair of tongs she would wade the river and whip every scoundrel Mexican that dared show his face on the opposite side!"