Mexico, Aztec, Spanish and Republican Part 35

Whilst these scattered military events were occurring, Pena-y-Pena, as President of the Republic, had endeavored, both at Toluca and at Queretaro, to combine once more the elements of a congress and a government. He summoned, moreover, the Governors of States to convene and consult upon the condition of affairs; he suspended Santa Anna; ordered Paredes into nominal arrest at Tololopan; directed a court martial upon Valencia for his conduct at Contreras; attempted to reform the army, and in all his acts seems to have been animated by a sincere spirit of national reorganization and peace. Nevertheless, among the deputies who were a.s.sembled, the same quarrels that disgraced former sessions again arose between the Puros, the Moderados, the Monarquistas, and Santannistas or friends of Santa Anna, who now formed themselves into a zealous party, notwithstanding the disgraceful downfall of their leader. These contests were continued until early in November, when a quorum of the members reached Queretaro and elected Senor Anaya, the former President subst.i.tute, to serve until the month of January, to which period the counting of votes for the Presidency had been postponed, as we have already stated, by the intrigues of Santa Anna. Anaya's election was a triumph of the Moderados.

Congress broke up after a few day's session, having provided for the a.s.semblage of a new one on the 1st of January, 1848; but, unfortunately most of the leaders did not depart from Queretaro which was henceforth for many months converted into a political battle field for the benefit or disgrace of the military partizans. The Puros, led by Gomez Farias, were joined by the disaffected officers of the army ready for revolution, _p.r.o.nunciamientos_, or any thing that might prolong the war with the same ultimate views that animated them during the armistice in August. But Pena-y-Pena and Anaya were both firm, discreet and consistent in their resistance. The a.s.sembled Governors of States resolved to support the President, his opinions, and acts, with their influence and means, while the ma.s.s of substantial citizens and men of property throughout the republic joined in an earnest expression of anxiety for peace. Guanajuato, San Luis Potosi, and Jalisco, under the lead of Santannistas and Puros who mutually hated each other, alone continued hostile to a treaty.

Mr. Trist, soon after the capture of Mexico, had sounded Pena-y-Pena in relation to the renewal of negotiations; but it was not until the end of October that the prudent President thought himself justified in expressing, through his minister, Don Luis de la Rosa, a simple but ardent wish for the cessation of war. When Anaya a.s.sumed the presidency, a few days afterwards, Pena-y-Pena did not disdain to enter his cabinet as minister, and, on the 22d of November, offered to our envoy the appointment of commissioners. But in the meanwhile our government at home believing that the continuance of Mr. Trist in Mexico was useless, and probably discontented with his conduct, had recalled him from the theatre of action. The American commissioner hastened, therefore, to decline the negotiation and apprised the Mexicans of his position. But, mature reflection upon the political state of Mexico, as well as upon the real desires of his government and people, induced Mr. Trist to change his views, and accordingly he notified the Mexican cabinet that, in spite of his recall, he would a.s.sume the responsibility of a final effort to close the war. Good judgment at the moment, and subsequent events, fully justified our envoy's diplomatic resolve. Commissioners were at once appointed to meet him, and negotiations were speedily commenced in a spirit of sincerity and peace. General Scott, nevertheless, though equally anxious to terminate the conflict, did not for a moment intermit his military vigilance. The capital, and the captured towns were still as strictly governed; the growing army was organized for future operations, and a general order was issued demanding a large contribution from each of the states for the support of our army. This military decree, moreover, reformed and essentially changed the duties, taxation, collection and a.s.saying of the nation; it indicated the intention of our government to spread its troops all over the land; and while it rea.s.serted the supremacy of law, and the purity of its administration, it announced instant death, by sentence of a drum-head court-martial, to all who engaged in irregular war. This decree satisfied reflecting Mexicans, who noticed the steady earnestness and increase of our army, that their nationality was seriously endangered, and greatly aided, as doubtless it was designed to do, in stimulating the action of the cabinet and commissioners.

Thus closed the eventful year of 1847. On the 1st of January, 1848, only thirty deputies of the new congress appeared in their places; and on the 8th,--the day for the decision of the presidency,--as there was still no quorum in attendance, and Anaya's term had expired, he promptly resigned his power to his minister of foreign affairs, Pena-y-Pena, who rea.s.sumed the executive chair, as he formerly had done, by virtue of his const.i.tutional right as chief justice. Anaya at once came into his cabinet as minister of war, while De la Rosa took the port-folio of foreign relations. All these persons were still sincere coadjutors in the work of peace.

The destiny of Santa Anna was drawing to a close. Huamantla had been perhaps his last battle field in Mexico. About the middle of January General Lane received information of the lurking place of the chieftain, who now, with scarcely the shadow of his ancient power or influence, was concealed at Tehuacan in the neighborhood of Puebla.

The astute intriguer's admission into the Republic had once been considered a master stroke of American policy; but his death, capture, or expulsion, was now equally desired by those who had watched him more closely and knew him better. Lane, accordingly, with a band of about three hundred and fifty mounted men, undertook the delicate task of seizing Santa Anna and had he not received timely warning, notwithstanding the secrecy of the American's movements, it is scarcely probable that he would have quitted his retreat alive. Among the corps of partizan warriors who went in search of the fugitive there were many Texans who still smarted under the memory of the dreary march from Santa Fe in 1841, the decimation at Mier, the cruelties of Goliad and the Alamo; and the imprisonments in Mexico, Puebla, or Perote in 1842. But when Lane and his troopers reached Tehuacan, the game had escaped, though his lair was still warm. All the personal effects left behind in his rapid flight, were plundered, with the exception of his wife's wardrobe, which, with a rough though chivalrous gallantry, was sent to the beautiful but ill matched lady.

A picked military escort, personally attached and doubtless well paid, still attended him. But, beyond this, he had no military command, and as a soldier and politician, his power in Mexico had departed.

Having sought by public letters to throw, as usual, the disgrace of his defeats at Belen and Chapultepec, upon General Terres and the revolutionary hero Bravo, he aroused the united hatred of these men and the disgust of their numerous friends. Public opinion openly condemned him every where. After Lane's a.s.sault he took refuge in Oajaca; but the people of that region were equally inimical and significantly desired his departure. Thus, broken in fame and character, deprived of a party, personal influence, patronage, and present use of his wealth, the foiled Warrior-President stood for a moment at bay. But his resolution was soon taken. From Cascatlan he wrote to the minister of war on the 1st of February, demanding pa.s.sports, and at the same time he intimated to the American Commander-in-chief his willingness to leave an ungrateful Republic and to "seek an asylum on a foreign soil where he might pa.s.s his last days in that tranquillity which he could never find in the land of his birth." The desired pa.s.sports were granted. He was a.s.sured that neither Mexicans nor Americans would molest his departure; and, moving leisurely towards the eastern coast with his family, he was met near his Hacienda of Encero by a select guard, detailed by Colonel Hughes and Major Kenly, and, escorted with his long train of troopers, domestics, treasure and luggage to La Antigua, where he embarked on the 5th of April, 1848, on board a Spanish brig bound to Jamaica. One year and eight months before, returning from exile, he had landed from the steamer Arab in the same neighborhood, to regenerate his country![77]

But before his departure probably forever from Mexico, Santa Anna had been doomed to see the peace concluded. The complete failure of the Mexicans in all their battles, notwithstanding the courage with which they individually fought at Churubusco, Chapultepec, and Molino del Rey, impressed the nation deeply with the conviction of its inability to cope in arms with the United States. The discomfiture of Paredes, the want of pecuniary resources, the disorganization of the country, the growing strength of the Americans who were pouring into the capital under Patterson, Butler and Marshall, and the utter failure of the arch-intriguer,--all contributed to strengthen the arm of the executive and to authorize both the negotiation of a treaty and the arrangement of an armistice until the two governments should ratify the terms of peace. Mr. Nicholas P. Trist, Don Luis G. Cuevas, Don Bernardo Couto, and Don Miguel Atristain, signed the treaty, thus consummated, on the 2d of February, 1848, at the town of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Its chief terms were 1st, the re-establishment of peace; 2d, the boundary which confirmed the southern line of Texas and gave us New Mexico and Upper California; 3d, the payment of fifteen millions by the United States, in consideration of the extension of our boundaries; 4th, the payment by our government of all the claims of its citizens against the Mexican Republic to the extent of three and a quarter millions, so as to discharge Mexico forever from all responsibility; 5th, a compact to restrain the incursions and misconduct of the Indians on the northern frontier. The compact contained in all, thirty-three articles and a secret article prolonging the period of ratification in Washington beyond the four months from its date as stipulated in the original instrument.

This important treaty, which, we believe, history will justly characterise as one of the most liberal ever a.s.sented to by the conquerors of so great a country, was despatched immediately by an intelligent courier to Washington; and, notwithstanding the irregularity of its negotiation after Mr. Trist's recall, was at once sent to the Senate by President Polk. In that ill.u.s.trious body of statesmen it was fully debated, and after mature consideration, ratified, with but slight change, on the 10th of March. Senator Sevier and Mr. Attorney General Clifford, resigned their posts and were sent as Plenipotentiaries to Mexico to secure its pa.s.sage by the Mexican congress.

Meanwhile the last action of the war was fought and won on the 16th of March, in ignorance of the armistice, by General Price at Santa Cruz de Rosales, near Chihuahua; and the diplomatic and military career of two of our most distinguished citizens was abruptly closed on the theatre of their brilliant achievements. Scott, the victor of so many splendid fields, was suspended from the command of the army he had led to glory, and General William O. Butler was ordered to replace him.

Hot dissensions had occurred between the Commander-in-chief, Worth, Pillow, and other meritorious officers, and although our government might well have avoided a scandalous rupture at such a moment in an enemy's capital, a Court of Inquiry was, nevertheless, convened to discuss the battles and the men who had achieved the victories! Nor was Mr. Trist, the steadfast, persevering and successful friend of peace, spared when he had accomplished all that his government and countrymen desired. Learned in the language of Spain; intimate with the character of the people; familiar, by long residence, with their tastes, feelings and customs, he had been selected by our Secretary of State in consequence of his peculiar fitness for the mission and its delicate diplomacy. Yet he was not allowed the honor of finishing his formal task at _Queretaro_ but was ordered home almost in disgrace.

History, however, will render the justice that politicians and governments deny, and must honestly recognize the treaty which crowned and closed the war as emphatically the result of his skill and watchfulness. The fate of the four most eminent men in this war ill.u.s.trates a painful pa.s.sage in the story of our country, for whilst Fremont, the pacificator of the west, was brought home a prisoner, and Taylor converted into a barrack master at Monterey,--Scott was almost tried for his victories in the presence of his conquered foes, and Trist disgraced for the treaty he had been sent to negotiate! But the private or public griefs of our commanders and diplomatists should properly find no place in these brief historical sketches, nor must we dwell upon them, even in pa.s.sing. The great victors and the able negotiators are secure in the memory and grat.i.tude of the future.

While the court of inquiry pursued its investigations in the capital, and the United States Senate, at home, was engaged in ratifying the treaty, President Pena-y-Pena and his cabinet still labored zealously to a.s.semble a Congress at Queretaro. The Mexican President resolved, if necessary to obtain a quorum, to exclude New Mexico, California, and Yucatan from representation; the two first being in possession of the United States and the latter in revolt. The disturbance in Yucatan which had been for some time fermenting, broke out fiercely in July, 1847, and became, in fact, a long continued war of castes. The Indian _peones_ and _rancheros_, under their leaders Pat and Chi, carried fire and sword among the thinly scattered whites, until relief was afforded them by Commodore Perry, the Havanese, the English of Jamaica and some enlisted corps of American volunteers returning from the war.

About Tuspan and Tampico on the east coast,--in the interior State of Guanajuato,--and on the northern frontiers of Sonora, Durango, and San Luis, the wild Indians, and the semi-civilized Indian laborers were rebellious and extremely annoying to the lonely settlers. There were symptoms everywhere, not only of national disorganization, but almost of national dissolution. Yet, difficult as was the position of the government, amid all these foreign and domestic dangers, every member strove loyally to sustain the nation and its character until the return of the ratified treaty. Money was contributed freely by the friends of peace, who sought a renewal of trade and desired to see the labors of the mines and of agriculture again pursuing their wonted channels. The clergy, too, who feared national ruin, annexation, or complete conquest, grudgingly bestowed a portion of their treasures; and thus the members of Congress were supplied with means to a.s.semble at the seat of government.

On the 25th May, a brilliant _cortege_ of American cavalry was seen winding along the hills towards Queretaro as the escort of the American commissioners, who were welcomed to the seat of government by the national authorities, and entertained sumptuously in an edifice set apart for their accommodation. The town was wild with rejoicing.

Those who had been so recently regarded as bitter foes, were hailed with all the ardor of ancient, and uninterrupted friendship. No one would have imagined that war had ever been waged between the soldiers of the north and south who now shared the same barracks and pledged each other in their social cups. If the drama was prepared for the occasion by the government, it was certainly well played, and unquestionably diverted the minds of the turbulent and dangerous cla.s.ses of the capital at a moment when good feeling was most needed.

Congress was in session when our commissioners arrived, and on the same day the Senate ratified the treaty, which, after a stormy debate, had been previously sanctioned by the Chamber of Deputies. On the 30th of May the ratifications were finally exchanged, and the first instalment of indemnity being paid in the city of Mexico, our troops evacuated the country in the most orderly manner during the following summer.

It cannot be denied that the Mexican Government, whose tenure of power was so frail, almost trembled at the sudden withdrawal of our forces and the full restoration of a power for which, as patriots, they naturally craved. The sudden relaxation of a firm and dreaded military authority in the capital, amid all those cla.s.ses of intriguing politicians, soldiers, clergymen, and demagogues, who had so long disturbed the nation's peace before Scott's capture of Mexico, naturally alarmed the president and cabinet, who possessed no reliable army to replace the departing Americans. But the three millions, received opportunely for indemnity, were no doubt judiciously used by the authorities, while the men of property and opulent merchants leagued zealously with the munic.i.p.al authorities to preserve order until national reorganization might begin. One of the first steps in this scheme was the election by Congress of General Herrera,--a hero of revolutionary fame,--as Const.i.tutional President, and of Pena-y-Pena as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. These and other conciliatory but firm acts gave peace at least for the moment to the heart of the nation; but beyond the capital all the bonds of the Federal Union were totally relaxed. Scarcely had the National Government been reinstalled in the city of Mexico, when General Mariano Paredes y Arrillaga unfurled the standard of rebellion in Guanajuato, under the pretext of opposing the treaty. The administration, possessing only the skeleton of an army, did not halt to consider the smallness of its resources, but promptly placed all its disposable men under the command of Anastas...o...b..stamante, who with Minon, Cortazar, and Lombardini, not only put down the revolution of Paredes, but, by their influence and admirable conduct imposed order and inspired renewed hopes for the future wherever they appeared. In the same way the strong arm of power was honestly used to destroy faction wherever it dared to lift its turbulent head,--and the National Guard of the Federal District faithfully performed its duty in this patriotic task. Paredes disappeared after his fall in Guanajuato, and remained in concealment or obscurity until his death.

Various outbreaks occurred in Mazatlan, on the western coast; in the State of Tobasco; in Chiapas, and among the Indians of Puebla; in the Huasteca of the State of Mexico; and in the Sierra Gorda belonging to the States of Queretaro, San Luis, and Guanajuato. These, like the revolt in Yucatan, threatened a war of castes, but the energetic government found means to subdue the rebels, and to reduce their districts to order.

Thus, for more than two years, has the government of President Herrera maintained its respectability and authority in spite of a failing treasury, political factionists, and domestic rebellion. The attempted task of national reorganization has been honestly and firmly, if not successfully carried out. The army, that canker of the nation, has been nearly destroyed, and its idle officers and men discharged to earn their living by honest labor. A great change has pa.s.sed over Mexico. Santa Anna lives abroad in almost compulsory exile. Ca.n.a.lizo and Paredes are dead. Bustamante, without political strength or party, retains a military command. The force in garrison does not amount to more, probably, than five or six thousand. The prestige of the army was blurred and blighted by the war. Nearly all the old political managers and intriguers are gradually pa.s.sing from the stage, and, with the new men coming upon it, to whom the war has taught terrible but salutary lessons, we may hope that another era of civilization and progress is about to dawn upon this great country. This hope is founded on the establishment of order and official responsibility by a strong government which will neither degenerate into despotism nor become corrupt by the uninterrupted enjoyment of power. The true value of the representative system will thus become rapidly known to Mexico as she develops her resources, by the united, const.i.tutional, and peaceful movement of her state and national machinery.

Among all the agitators of the country no one has been, by turns, so much courted and dreaded as Santa Anna. His political history, sketched in this volume, discloses many but not all the features of his private character. He possessed a wilful, observant, patient intellect, which had received very little culture; but constant intercourse with all cla.s.ses of men, made him perfectly familiar with the strength and weaknesses of his countrymen. There was not a person of note in the Republic whose value he did not know, nor was there a venal politician with whose price he was unacquainted. Believing most men corrupt or corruptible, he was constantly busy in contriving expedients to control or win them. A soldier almost from his infancy, during turbulent times among semi-civilized troops, he had become so habitually despotic that when he left the camp for the cabinet he still blent the imperious General with the intriguing President. He seemed to cherish the idea that his country could not be virtuously governed. Ambitious, and avaricious, he sought for power not only to gratify his individual l.u.s.t of personal glory, but as a means of enriching himself and purchasing the instruments who might sustain his authority. Accordingly, he rarely distinguished the public treasure from his private funds. Soldier as he was by profession, he was slightly skilled in the duties of a commander in the field, and never won a great battle except through the blunders of his opponents. He was a systematic revolutionist; a manager of men; an astute intriguer;--and, personally timid, he seldom meditated an advance without planning a retreat. Covetous as a miser, he nevertheless, delighted to watch the mean combat between fowls upon whose prowess he had staked his thousands. An agriculturist with vast landed possessions, his chief rural pleasure was in training these birds for the brutal battle of the pit. Loving money insatiably, he leaned with the eagerness of a gambler over the table where those who knew how to propitiate his greediness learned the graceful art of losing judiciously. Sensual by const.i.tution, he valued woman only as the minister of his pleasures. The gentlest being imaginable in tone, address, and demeanor to foreigners or his equals, he was oppressively haughty to his inferiors, unless they were necessary to his purposes or not absolutely in his power. The correspondence and public papers which were either written or dictated by him, fully displayed the sophistry by which he changed defeats into victories or converted criminal faults into philanthropy. Gifted with an extraordinary power of expression, he used his splendid language to impose by sonorous periods, upon the credulity or fancy of his people. No one excelled him in ingenuity, eloquence, bombast, gasconade or dialectic skill.

When at the head of power, he lived constantly in a gorgeous military pageant; and, a perfect master of dramatic effect upon the excitable ma.s.ses of his countrymen, he forgot the exhumation of the dishonored bones of Cortez to superintend the majestic interment of the limb he had lost at Vera Cruz.[78]

It will easily be understood how such a man, in the revolutionary times of Mexico, became neither the Cromwell nor the Washington of his country. The great talent which he unquestionably possessed, taught him that it was easier to deal corruptly with corruptions than to rise to the dignity of a loyal reformer. He and his country mutually acted, and reacted upon each other. Neither a student nor a traveller, he knew nothing of human character except as he saw it exhibited at home, and there he certainly sometimes found excuses for severity and even despotism. It is undeniable that he was endowed with a peculiar genius, but it was that kind of energetic genius which may raise a dexterous man from disgrace, defeat or reverses, rather than sustain him in power when he has reached it. He never was popular or relied for success on the democratic sentiment of his country. He ascertained, at an early day, that the people would not favor his aspirations, and, abandoning federalism, he threw himself in the embrace of the centralists. The army and the church-establishment,--combined for mutual protection under his auspices,--were the only two elements of his political strength; and as long as he wielded their mingled power, he was enabled to do more than any other Mexican in thoroughly demoralizing his country. As a military demagogue he was often valuable even to honest patriots who were willing to call him to power for a moment to save the country either from anarchy or from the grasp of more dangerous aspirants. Until the army was destroyed, Santa Anna could not fall, nor would the military politicians yield to the civil. As long as this dangerous chief and his myrmidons remained in Mexico, either in or out of power, every citizen felt that he was suffering under the rod of a Despot or that the progress of his country would soon be paralyzed by the wand of an unprincipled Agitator. But with the army reduced to the mere requirements of a police system, and Santa Anna beyond the limits of the Republic, the nation may breathe with freedom and vigor.[79]

NOTE.--These historical sketches of the late war with Mexico are designed to present a rapid view of the chief _events_ and _motives_ of the international conflict rather than to portray the separate actions of civil and military men who were engaged in it.

We have, therefore, not been as minute as might be desired either by ourself or by interested individuals. This, however, will be remedied in the general "History of the War between Mexico and the United States," which we design publishing.

In narrating the battles we have sketched them _according to the published plans of the commanders on both sides_. This is the fair system of describing and judging; but whether those plans _were always the most judicious_, is a matter for military criticism in which we have not present s.p.a.ce to indulge. Resaca de la Palma, Monterey, Buena Vista, Vera Cruz, Molino del Rey, Chapultepec, and the _time_ as well as the _mode_ of capturing the capital, have all been discussed and condemned by the prolific cla.s.s of fault finders--most of whose judgments, when at all correct, are founded upon knowledge acquired or a.s.sured subsequently to the actions, and which was entirely inaccessible to the commanders when they fought the battles that are criticised. One thing, however, should gratify our Generals exceedingly, and it is that in truth they _did_ fight and _win_ the several actions in question, notwithstanding their blunders and notwithstanding the fact that their junior civil and military critics could have fought them so much better! They had, it seems, a double triumph--one over their own stupid ignorance and another over the enemy!

[Footnote 77: In his letter to the Secretary of War on the 1st of February from Cascatlan, he says: "to enable me to live out of the way of the banditti travelling about here in large parties, I have had to spend more than two thousand dollars, necessary to maintain a small escort, when, through the scarcity of means in the treasury, _I served my country without pay_." This is a singular ill.u.s.tration of Santa Anna's characteristic avarice. Perhaps no man ever served his country for more liberal and certain pay than this chieftain. We have been informed by one of our highest officers, who was in the capital after its occupation by our troops, and had access to the Mexican archives, that, amid all Santa Anna's political and military distresses he never forgot his pecuniary interests. The books of the treasury showed that, at the moment when the city was about to fall and when there was scarcely money enough to maintain the troops, _he paid himself the whole of his salary as President up to that date, and all the arrears which he claimed as due to him, as President also, during the period of his residence in exile at Havana_!]

[Footnote 78: See page 91, vol. 1, and Mexico as it was and as it is, p 207.]

[Footnote 79: See vol. 2, chapter xii, p. 155. Reflections upon the Republic.]