Footnote[73]It will be remembered that even Cortéz had paused in the precincts of the ancient capital of the Aztecs, in order to give them a chance of escape before striking the fatal blow. See Prescott, vol. 3, p. 199. It is a little remarkable also, that the dates of Scott's and Cortéz's victories coincide so closely. Cortéz's victory was on the 13th of August, 1521, Scott's on the 20th of August, 1847. The date of Cortéz's achievement is given according to the Old Style, but if we add ten days to bring it up to New Style, it will be corrected to the 23d of August!
[73]It will be remembered that even Cortéz had paused in the precincts of the ancient capital of the Aztecs, in order to give them a chance of escape before striking the fatal blow. See Prescott, vol. 3, p. 199. It is a little remarkable also, that the dates of Scott's and Cortéz's victories coincide so closely. Cortéz's victory was on the 13th of August, 1521, Scott's on the 20th of August, 1847. The date of Cortéz's achievement is given according to the Old Style, but if we add ten days to bring it up to New Style, it will be corrected to the 23d of August!
MILITARY POSITION OF THE AMERICANS AT THE END OF THE ARMISTICE—MEXICAN DEFENCES—PLAN OF ATTACK—RECONNOISSANCES OF SCOTT AND MASON—IMPORTANCE OF MEXICAN POSITION AT MOLINO DEL REY—SCOTT'S SCHEME OF CAPTURING THE CITY—BATTLE OF MOLINO DEL REY—REFLECTIONS AND CRITICISM ON THIS BATTLE—PREPARATIONS TO ATTACK CHAPULTEPEC—STORMING OF CHAPULTEPEC AND OF THE CITY GATES OF SAN COSMÉ AND BELEN—RETREAT OF THE MEXICAN ARMY AND GOVERNMENT—AMERICAN OCCUPATION OF THE CITY OF MEXICO.
MILITARY POSITION OF THE AMERICANS AT THE END OF THE ARMISTICE—MEXICAN DEFENCES—PLAN OF ATTACK—RECONNOISSANCES OF SCOTT AND MASON—IMPORTANCE OF MEXICAN POSITION AT MOLINO DEL REY—SCOTT'S SCHEME OF CAPTURING THE CITY—BATTLE OF MOLINO DEL REY—REFLECTIONS AND CRITICISM ON THIS BATTLE—PREPARATIONS TO ATTACK CHAPULTEPEC—STORMING OF CHAPULTEPEC AND OF THE CITY GATES OF SAN COSMÉ AND BELEN—RETREAT OF THE MEXICAN ARMY AND GOVERNMENT—AMERICAN OCCUPATION OF THE CITY OF MEXICO.
At the termination of the armistice the position of the American forces was greatly changed from what it had been on the morning of the 20th of August. The occupation of San Agustin had been followed by that of Contreras, San Angel, Coyoacan and Churubusco in the course of that day, and on the next, Mixcoac and Tacubaya were taken possession of. Thus the whole southern and south-western portion of the valley, in front of Mexico, were now held by the Americans; and this disposition of their forces, commanding most of the principal approaches to the capital, enabled them, for the first time to select their point of attack.
In reconnoitering the chief outworks of the Mexicans by which he was still opposed, General Scott found that there were several of great importance. Directly north of his headquarters at Tacubaya, and distant about a mile, arose the lofty, isolated hill of Chapultepec, surrounded by its massive edifice, half castle, half palace, crowned with cannon. This point, it was known, had been strongly fortified to maintain the road leading from Tacubaya to thegaritaof San Cosmé on the west of the city. Westwardly, beyond the hill of Chapultepec, whose southern side and feet are surrounded by a dense grove of cypresses, and on a rising ground within the military works designed to strengthen the castle, was the Molino del Rey, or King's Mill, which was represented to be a cannon foundry to which large quantities of church bells had been sent to be cast into guns. Still further west, but near the Molino or Mill, was the fortified Casa Mata, containing a large deposit of powder.
These,—together with the strong citadel, lying near thegaritaof Belen in the south-western corner of the city,—were the principal external defences still remaining beyond the immediate limits of the capital. The city itself stands on a slight swell between lake Tezcoco and the western edge of the valley, and, throughout its greater extent, is girdled by a ditch or navigable canal extremely difficult to bridge in the face of an enemy, which serves the Mexicans not only as a military defence but for drainage and protection of their customs. Each of the eight strong city gates were protected by works of various character and merit. Outside and within the cross fires of these gates there were other obstacles scarcely less formidable towards thesouth. The main approaches to the city across the flat lands of the basin are raised on causeways flanked by wide and deep ditches designed for their protection and drainage. These causeways, as well as the minor cross roads which are similarly built, were cut in many places and had their bridges destroyed so as to impede the American's advance and to form an entangling net work; while the adjacent meadows were in this rainy season either filled with water in many places or liable to be immediately flooded by a tropical storm.
With these fields for his theatre of action, and these defences still in front of him, it was an important and responsible question, whether General Scott should attack Mexico on the west or on the south.
There can be hardly a doubt that the capture of the hill and castle of Chapultepec, before assaulting the city, was imperatively demanded by good generalship. If the capital were takenfirst, the Mexicans instead of retreating towards Guadalupe and the north, when we attacked and captured from thesouth, would of course retire to the avoided stronghold of Chapultepec; and, if our slender forces were subsequently obliged to leave the city in order to take the fortress, our sick, wounded and thinned regiments would be left to the mercy of the mob and theleperos. Chapultepec would thus become the nucleus and garrison of the whole Mexican army, and we might be compelled to fight two battles at the same time,—oneinthe city, and the other at the castle. But, by capturing the castle first, and seizing the road northward beyond it, we possessed all the most important outworks in the lap of the valley, and cut off the retreat of the Mexicans from the city either to the west, to the castle, or towards our rear in the valley. We obtained, moreover, absolute command of two of the most important entrances to the capital, inasmuch as from the eastern foot of the hill of Chapultepec two causeways, and aqueducts raised on lofty arches, divergednortheastwardly and eastwardly towards the city. The northernmost of these entered Mexico by thegaritaof San Cosmé, while the other reached it by that of Belen near the citadel.
In attacking Chapultepec, it was important to consider the value of the Molino del Rey or King's Mill, and Casa Mata, both of which, as we noticed, lie on rising ground within the works designed to protect Chapultepec. Upon examination it will be found that the Molino del Rey, or King's Mill, bears the relation of a very strong western outwork both to the castle of Chapultepec and its approaches by the inclined plain which serves to ascend its summit. As the Molino del Rey is commanded and defended by the castle, so it reciprocally, commands and defends the only good approach to the latter.[74]As long as the Molino was held by the Mexicans, it would of course, form an important stronghold easily reached from the city around the rear of Chapultepec; so that if Scott attacked the castle and hill from the south, where the road that ascends it commenced, he would be in danger of an attack on his left flank from the Mexicans in the defences at Molino and Casa Mata.
If the King's Mill fell, the result to the enemy would be that, in addition to the loss of an important outwork and the consequent weakening of the main work, its occupants or defenders would be driven from a high position above the roads and fields into the low grounds at the base of Chapultepec, which were completely commanded from the Molino, and thus the Mexicans would be unable to prevent the American siege pieces from taking up the most favorable position for battering the castle. It was important, therefore, not only that the foundry should be destroyed, but, in a stratagetic view, it was almost indispensable in relation to future operations that the position should be taken. It is undeniable, as following events showed, that the Mexicans regarded it as one of their formidable military points. The capture of Chapultepec and the destruction of the post at Molino del Rey were, accordingly, determined on as preliminary to the final assault upon the city.
*****
As soon as the armistice was terminated bold reconnoissances were made by our engineers in the direction of Chapultepec and the Molino or King's Mill and Casa Mata. On the 7th of September Santa Anna's answer to Scott's despatch was received, and on the same day the Commander-in-Chief and General Worth examined the enemy's formidable dispositions near and around the castle-crownedhill. The Mexican array was found to consist of an extended line of cavalry and infantry, sustained by a field battery of four guns, either occupying directly or supporting a system of defences collateral to the castle and summit;but as the lines were skilfully masked a very inadequate idea of the extent of the forces was obtained. Captain Mason's reconnoissance on the morning of the same day, represented the enemy's left as resting on and occupying the group of strong stone buildings at the Molino adjacent to the grove at the foot of Chapultepec and directly under the castle's guns. The right of his line rested on the Casa Mata, at the foot of the ridge sloping gradually to the plain below from the heights above Tacubaya; while, midway between these buildings, were the field battery and infantry forces disposed on either side to support it. This reconnoissance indicated that thecentrewas the weak point of the position, and that its left flank was the strongest. In the Mill or Molino, on the left, was the brigade of General Leon, reinforced by the brigade of General Rangel; in the Casa Mata, on the right, was the brigade of General Perez; and on the intermediate ground was the brigade of General Ramirez, with several pieces of artillery. The Mexican reserve was composed of the 1st and 3d light, stationed in the groves of Chapultepec, while the cavalry consisting of 4,000 men, rested at the hacienda of Morales, not very far from the field. Such was the arrangement of the Mexican forces made by Santa Anna in person on the 7th of September, though it has been alleged by Mexican writers that it was somewhat changed during the following night. The wily chief had not allowed the time to pass during the negotiation between Trist and the Commissioners in political discussion alone. Regarding the failure of the treaty as most probable, he had striven to strengthen once more the military arm of his nation, and the first result of this effort was demonstrated in his disposition of troops at El Molino del Rey. The Americans' attack upon Chapultepec, as commanding the nearest and most important access to the city had been foreseen by him as soon as the armistice ended, and as a military man, he well knew that the isolated hill and castle could not be protected by the defenders within its walls alone or by troops stationed either immediately at its base or on the sloping road along its sides.
General Scott's plan of assault upon the city seems now to have been matured, though it required several days for full development according to the reconnoissances of his engineers. He designed to make the main assault on the west and not on the south of the city.Possessing himself suddenly of the Molino del Rey and the adjacent grounds he was toretireafter the capturewithout carrying Chapultepec, the key of the roads to the westerngaritasof San Cosmé and Belen. The immediate capture of Chapultepec would have been a signal to Santa Anna to throw his whole force into the western defence of the city; but by retiring, after the fall of the Molino or King's Mill, and by playing off skilfully on the south of the city in the direction of the garita of San Antonio Abad, Scott would effectually divert the attention of the Mexicans to that quarter and thus induce them to weaken the western defences and strengthen the southern. At length, at the proper moment, by a rapid inversion of his forces from the south to the west, he intended to storm the castle-crowned hill, and rush along the causeways to the capital before the enemy could recover his position.
*****
In pursuance of this plan, an attack upon El Molino del Rey and La Casa Mata was the first great work to be accomplished, and as soon as Santa Anna's reply closing the armistice was received on the 7th the advance towards that place was ordered for the following morning. This important work was entrusted to General Worth, whose division was reinforced by three squadrons of dragoons; one command of 270 mounted riflemen under Major Sumner; three field pieces under Captain Drum; two twenty-four pounders under Captain Huger, and Cadwallader's brigade 784 strong. The reconnoissances had been completed; at three o'clock in the morning of the 8th of September the several columns were put in motion on as many different routes, and when the gray dawn enabled them to be seen they were as accurately posted as if in midday for review. Colonel Duncan was charged with the general disposition of the artillery, while the cavalry were under Major Sumner.
At the first glimmer of day Huger's powerful guns saluted the walls of El Molino and continued to play in that quarter until this point of the enemy's line became sensibly shaken. At that moment the assaulting party, commanded by Wright of the 8th Infantry, dashed forward to assault the centre. Musketry and cannister were showered upon them by the aroused enemy, but on they rushed, driving infantry and artillerists at the point of the bayonet, capturing the field pieces and trailing them on the flying foe, until the Mexicans perceiving that they had been assailed by a mere handful of men suddenly rallied and reformed. In an instant the reassured and gallant foe opened upon the Americans a terrific fire of musketry,striking down eleven out of the fourteen officers who composed the command, and, for the time, staggering the staunch assailants. But this paralysis continued for an instant only. A light battalion which had been held to cover Huger's battery, commanded by Captain E. Kirby Smith, rushed forward to support, and executing its bloody task amid horrible carnage, finally succeeded in carrying the line and occupying it with our troops. In the meanwhile Garland's brigade, sustained by Drum's artillery assaulted the enemy's left near the Molino, and after an obstinate contest drove him from his position under the protecting guns of Chapultepec. Drum's section and Huger's battering guns advanced to the enemy's position, and his captured pieces were now opened on the retreating force. While these efforts were successfully making on the Mexican centre and left, Duncan's battery blazed on the right, and Colonel Mackintosh was ordered to assault that point. The advance of his brigade soon brought it between the enemy and Duncan's guns, and their fire was of course discontinued. Onwards sternly and steadily moved the troops towards the Casa Mata, which, as it was approached, proved to be a massive stone work surrounded with bastioned entrenchments and deep ditches, whence a deadly fire was delivered and kept up without intermission upon our advancing troops until they reached the very slope of the parapet surrounding the citadel. The havoc was dreadful. A large proportion of the command was either killed or wounded; but still the ceaseless fire from the Casa Mata continued its deadly work, until the maimed and broken band of gallant assailants was withdrawn to the left of Duncan's battery where its remnants rallied. Duncan and Sumner had meanwhile been hotly engaged in repelling a charge of Mexican cavalry on the left, and having just completed the work, the brave Colonel found his countrymen retired from before the Casa Mata and the field again open for his terrible weapons. Directing them at once upon the fatal fort he battered the Mexicans from its walls, and as they fled from its protecting enclosure he continued to play upon the fugitives as relentlessly as they had recently done upon Mackintosh and his doomed brigade.
The Mexicans were now driven from the field at every point. La Casa Mata was blown up by the conquerors. Captured ammunition and cannon moulds in El Molino were destroyed. And the Americans, according to Scott's order previous to the battle, returned to Tacubaya, with three of the enemy's guns, (a fourth being spiked and useless,) eight hundred prisoners including fifty-two commissioned officers, and a large quantity of small arms, with gun andmusket ammunition. Three thousand two hundred and fifty-one Americans, had on this day, driven four times their number from a selected field; but they had paid a large and noble tribute to death for the victory. Nine officers were included in the one hundred and sixteen of our killed, and forty-nine officers in the six hundred and sixty-five of our wounded. The Mexicans suffered greatly in wounded and slain, while the gallant General Leon and Colonel Balderas fell fighting bravely on the field of battle.[75]
*****
The battle was over by nine o'clock in the morning. The Americans, after collecting their dead and wounded, retired from the bloody field, but they were not allowed to mourn over their painful losses. They had suffered severely, yet the battle had been most disastrous to the Mexicans. The fine commands of Generals Perez and Leon and of Colonel Balderas, were broken up; the position once destroyed, could not serve for a second defence, and themoraleof the soldiers had suffered. The Mexicans were beginning to believe that mere formidable masses, if not directed by skilful chiefs, were, in truth, but harmless things, and not to be relied on very confidently for national defence. The new levies, the old regulararmy, and the volunteers of the city, had all been repeatedly beaten in the valley both before and since the armistice. Nevertheless, Santa Anna, in spite of all these defeats and disasters at the Molino and Casa Mata, caused the bells of the city to be merrily rung for a victory, and sent forth proclamations by extraordinary couriers, in every direction, announcing the triumph of Mexican valor and arms!
On the morning of the 11th, Scott proceeded to carry out the remainder of his projected capture of the capital. His troops had been already for some time hovering around the southern gates, and he now surveyed them closely covered by General Pillow's division and Riley's brigade of Twigg's command, and then ordered Quitman from Coyoacan to join Pillow bydaylight, before the southern gates.By nighthowever, the two Generals with their commands were to pass the two intervening miles between their position and Tacubaya where they would unite with Worth's division, while General Twiggs was left, with Riley, Captain Taylor and Steptoe, in front of the gates to manœuvre, threaten, or make false attacks so as to occupy and deceive the enemy. General Smith's brigade was halted in supporting distance at San Angel, in the rear, till the morning of the 13th, so as to support our general depot at Mixcoac. This stratagem against the south was admirably executed throughout the 12th and until the afternoon of the 13th, when it was too late for Santa Anna to recover from his delusion.
In the meanwhile preparations had been duly made for the operations on the west by the capture of Chapultepec. Heavy batteries were established and the bombardment and cannonade under Captain Huger, were commenced early on the morning of the 12th. Pillow and Quitman had been in position, as ordered, since early on the night of the 11th, and Worth was now commanded to hold his division in reserve near the foundry to support Pillow, while Smith was summoned to sustain Quitman. Twiggs still continued to inform us with his guns that he held the Mexicans on the defensive in that quarter and kept Santa Anna in constant anxiety. Scott's positions and strategy perfectly disconcerted him. One moment on the south—the next at Tacubaya—then reconnoitering the south again—and, at last, concentrating his forces so that they might be easily moved northward to Chapultepec or southward to the gate of San Antonio Abad. These movements rendered him constantly sensible of every hour's importance, yet he would not agree with the veteran Bravo who commanded Chapultepec and was convinced that the hill and castle would be the points assailed. During the whole of the 12th the American pieces, strengthened by the capturedguns, poured an incessant shower of shot into the fortress until nightfall, when the assailants slept upon their arms, to be in position for an early renewal on the 13th.
At half-past five in the morning the American guns recommenced upon Chapultepec; but still Santa Anna clung to the southern gates while Scott was silently preparing for the final assault according to a preconcerted signal. About 8 o'clock, judging that the missiles had done the work, the heavy batteries suddenly ceased firing, and instantaneously Pillow's division rushed forward from the conquered Molino del Rey, and overbearing all obstacles, and rapidly clambering up the steep acclivities, raised their scaling ladders and poured over the walls.[76]
Quitman, supported by Generals Shields and Smith, was meanwhile advancing rapidly towards the south-east of the works, over a causeway with cuts and batteries defended by an army strongly posted outside the works towards the east. But nothing could resist the impulse of the storming division, though staunchly opposed and long held at bay, and whilst it rushed to complete the work, the New York, South Carolina, and Pennsylvania volunteers, under Shields, crossed the meadows in front amid a heavy fire, and entered the outer enclosure of Chapultepec in time to join the enterprise from the west. The castle was now possessed at every point. The onslaught had been so rapid and resistless, that the Mexicans stood appalled as the human tide foamed and burst over their battlements. Men who had been stationed to fire the mines either fled or were shot down. Officers fell at their posts, and the brave old Bravo, fighting to the last, was taken prisoner with a thousand combatants.
Santa Anna was at last undeceived. He detached at once the greater portion of his troops from near the garita of San Antonio Abad; but it was too late;—the key to the roads of San Cosmé and Belen had fallen; the advance works were weak, and the routed troops of Chapultepec fled rapidly along the causeways and overthe meadows. Still as they retreated they fought courageously, and as our men approached the walls, the fresh troops in the neighborhood poured their volleys from behind parapets, windows and steeples. Nevertheless, Santa Anna dared not withdraw all his forces in the presence of Twigg's threatening division on the south.
Meanwhile Worth had seized the causeway and aqueduct of San Cosmé, while Quitman advanced by the other towards the garita of Belen. The double roads on each side of these aqueducts which rested on open arches spanning massive pillars, afforded fine points for attack and defence. Both the American Generals were prompt in pursuing the retreating foe, while Scott, who had ascended the battlements of Chapultepec and beheld the field spread out beneath him like a map, hastened onward all the stragglers and detachments to join the flushed victors in the final assault.
Worth speedily reached the street of San Cosmé and became engaged in desperate conflict with the enemy from the houses and defences. Ordering forward Cadwallader's brigade with mountain howitzers, preceded by skirmishers and pioneers with pick-axes and crow bars to force windows and doors and to burrow through the walls, he rapidly attained an equality of position with the enemy; and by 8 o'clock in the evening, after carrying two batteries in this suburb, he planted a heavy mortar and piece of artillery from which he might throw shot and shells into the city during the night. Having posted guards and sentinels and sheltered his weary men, he at length found himself with no obstacle but the gate of San Cosmé between his gallant band and the great square of Mexico.
The pursuit by Quitman on the road to the gate of Belen had been equally hot and successful. Scott originally designed that this General should only manœuvre and threaten the point so as to favor Worth's more dangerous enterprise by San Cosmé. But the brave and impetuous Quitman, seconded by the eager spirits of his division, longing for the distinction of which they had been hitherto deprived, heeded neither the external defences nor the more dangerous power of the neighboring citadel. Onward he pressed his men under flank and direct fires;—seized an intermediate battery of two guns;—carried the gate of Belen,—and thus, before two o'clock, was the first to enter the city and maintain his position with a loss proportionate to the steady firmness of his desperate assault. After nightfall, he added several new defences to the point he had won so gloriously, and sheltering his men as well as he wasable, awaited the return of daylight under the guns of the formidable and unsubdued citadel.
So ended the battles of the 13th of September, 1847, and so, in fact, ended the great contests of the war. Santa Anna had been again "disconcerted" in his plan of battle, by Scott, as he had previously been thwarted by Valencia's disobedience and wilfulness. Scott would not attack the south of the city where he expected him, and consequently the American chief conquered the point where he had not expected him!
When darkness fell upon the city a council of disheartened officers assembled in the Mexican citadel. After the customary crimination and recrimination had been exhausted between Santa Anna and other officers, it was acknowledged that the time had come to decide upon future movements. Beaten in every battle, they now saw one American General already within the city gate, while another was preparing to enter on the following morning, and kept the city sleepless by the loud discharges of his heavy cannon or bursting bombs as they fell in the centre of the capital. General Carrera believed the demoralization of his army complete. Lombardini, Alcorta and Perez coincided in his opinion, and Santa Anna at length closed the panic stricken council by declaring that Mexico must be evacuated during the night and by naming Lombardini General-in-Chief, and General Perez second in command. Between eight and nine o'clock Señor Trigueros called at the citadel with his coach, and bore away the luckless military President to the sacred town of Guadalupe Hidalgo, three miles north of the capital.
The retreat of the Mexican army began at midnight, and not long after, a deputation from the Ayuntamiento, or City Council, waited upon General Scott with the information that the federal government and troops had fled from the capital. The haggard visitors demanded terms of capitulation in favor of the church, the citizens and the municipal authorities. Scott refused the ill-timed request, and promising no terms that were not self imposed, sent word to Quitman and Worth to advance as soon as possible on the following morning, and, guarding carefully against treachery, to occupy the city's strongest and most commanding points. Worth was halted at the Alameda, a few squares west of the Plaza, but Quitman was allowed the honor of advancing to the great square, and hoisting the American flag on the National Palace. At 9 o'clock the Commander-in-Chief, attended by his brilliant staff, rode into the vast area in front of the venerable Cathedral and Palace,amid the shouts of the exulting army to whose triumphs his prudence and genius had so greatly contributed. It was a proud moment for Scott, and he might well have flushed with excitement as he ascended the Palace stairs and sat down in the saloon which had been occupied by so many Viceroys, Ministers, Presidents and Generals, to write the brief order announcing his occupation of the capital of Mexico. Yet the elation was but momentary. The cares of conquest were now exchanged for those of preservation. He was allowed no interval of repose from anxiety. His last victories had entirely disorganized the Republic. There was no longer a national government, a competent municipal authority, or even a police force which could be relied on to regulate the fallen city. Having accomplished the work of destruction, the responsibility of reconstruction was now imposed upon him; and first among his duties was the task of providing for the safety and subordination of that slender band which had been so suddenly forced into a vast and turbulent capital.
Note.—We shall record as very interesting historical facts, the numbers with which General Scott achieved his victories in the valley.Forces.He left Puebla with10,738 rank and file.At Contreras and Churubusco, there were8,497 engaged.At El Molino del Rey and La Casa Mata,3,251 "On 12th and 13th September, at Chapultepec,&c.7,180 "Final attack on city, after deducting killed, wounded, garrison of Mixcoac and Chapultepec,6,000Losses.At Contreras and Churubusco,137 killed.877 wounded.38 missing.At El Molino, &c.,116 "665 "18 "September 12th, 13th, and 14th,130 "703 "29 "Grand total of losses, 2,703."On the other hand," says Scott in his despatch of 18th September, 1847, "this small force has beaten on the same occasions, in view of the capital, the whole Mexican army, composed, at the beginning, of thirty odd thousand men, posted always in chosen positions, behind entrenchments or more formidable defences of nature and art;—killed or wounded of that number more than 7,000 officers and men,—taken 3,730 prisoners, one-seventh officers, including 13 generals, of whom 3 had been Presidents of this Republic;—captured more than 20 colors and standards, 75 pieces of ordnance, besides 57 wall pieces, 20,000 small arms, and an immense quantity of shot, shells and powder." See Ex. Doc. No. 1 Senate, 30th Congress, 1st Session, p. 384.
Note.—We shall record as very interesting historical facts, the numbers with which General Scott achieved his victories in the valley.
Forces.
Losses.
"On the other hand," says Scott in his despatch of 18th September, 1847, "this small force has beaten on the same occasions, in view of the capital, the whole Mexican army, composed, at the beginning, of thirty odd thousand men, posted always in chosen positions, behind entrenchments or more formidable defences of nature and art;—killed or wounded of that number more than 7,000 officers and men,—taken 3,730 prisoners, one-seventh officers, including 13 generals, of whom 3 had been Presidents of this Republic;—captured more than 20 colors and standards, 75 pieces of ordnance, besides 57 wall pieces, 20,000 small arms, and an immense quantity of shot, shells and powder." See Ex. Doc. No. 1 Senate, 30th Congress, 1st Session, p. 384.
Footnotes[74]See Lieut. Smith's Memoir, ut antea, p. 8.[75]This was a great but arashvictory. The American infantry relying chiefly on the bayonet and expecting to effect its object by surprise and even at an earlier hour of the morning, advanced with portions of the three thousand two hundred and fifty-one men to attack at least eleven or twelve thousand Mexicans upon a field selected by themselves, protected by stone walls and ditches, commanded by the fortress of Chapultepec and the ground swept by artillery, while four thousand cavalry threatened an overwhelming charge! We have no criticism to make as to inequality of numbers, but although we believe that our officers did not anticipate so strong a resistance, we are satisfied that it would have been better to rely atfirstupon the fatal work of mortars andsiegepieces, of which we had abundance, and,then, to have permitted the bayonet to complete the task the battering train had begun. If the difficulty of moving rapidly to the scene of action in the night, prevented anightattack and surprise, it would probably have been better to change the plan of battle even at a late hour. In the end, Duncan's great guns, effectually destroyed a post which had been the slaughter house of many a noble American soldier. The Mexican cavalry behaved shamefully. In Colonel Ramsey's notes on the translation of the MexicanApuntes para la historia de la Guerra, &c., p. 347, he says: "it isnow knownin Mexico that Santa Anna was in possession of General Scott's order to attack the Molino del Rey in a few hours after it was written, and during the whole of the 7th, troops were taking up their positions on that ground. It is believed further that Santa Anna knew the precise force that was to attack. When, therefore, Scott supposed that Worth would surprise the Mills and Casa Mata, he was met by what? Shall the veil be raised a little further? There was a traitor among the list of high ranking officers in the Mexican army, and for gold he told the Mexican force. Scott had been betrayed by one not an American, not an officer or soldier, but Santa Anna was betrayed by one of his own officers and a Mexican. Santa Anna believed the information he received and acted on it. General Scott didnotbelieve what he learned at night, and—the victory was won!"[76]The importance of thepreviouscapture of El Molino del Rey was proved in this assault upon Chapultepec, for Pillow's division started from this very Mill, from within the enemy's work, and found itself on an equality with the foe up to the very moment of scaling the walls at the crest of the mount, whereas the other assaulting column under Quitman taking the only remaining road to the castle, a causeway leading from Tacubaya, was successfully held at bay by the outworks defending this road at the base of the hill, until after the castle was taken, and the opposing force was taken in rear by troops passing through and around Chapultepec. Had El Molino still been held by the Mexicans, the siege pieces would not have been allowed to play uninterruptedly, nor would the assaulting parties been able to take position or attack with impunity. See Lieut. Smith's Memoir, ut antea p. 8.
[74]See Lieut. Smith's Memoir, ut antea, p. 8.
[75]This was a great but arashvictory. The American infantry relying chiefly on the bayonet and expecting to effect its object by surprise and even at an earlier hour of the morning, advanced with portions of the three thousand two hundred and fifty-one men to attack at least eleven or twelve thousand Mexicans upon a field selected by themselves, protected by stone walls and ditches, commanded by the fortress of Chapultepec and the ground swept by artillery, while four thousand cavalry threatened an overwhelming charge! We have no criticism to make as to inequality of numbers, but although we believe that our officers did not anticipate so strong a resistance, we are satisfied that it would have been better to rely atfirstupon the fatal work of mortars andsiegepieces, of which we had abundance, and,then, to have permitted the bayonet to complete the task the battering train had begun. If the difficulty of moving rapidly to the scene of action in the night, prevented anightattack and surprise, it would probably have been better to change the plan of battle even at a late hour. In the end, Duncan's great guns, effectually destroyed a post which had been the slaughter house of many a noble American soldier. The Mexican cavalry behaved shamefully. In Colonel Ramsey's notes on the translation of the MexicanApuntes para la historia de la Guerra, &c., p. 347, he says: "it isnow knownin Mexico that Santa Anna was in possession of General Scott's order to attack the Molino del Rey in a few hours after it was written, and during the whole of the 7th, troops were taking up their positions on that ground. It is believed further that Santa Anna knew the precise force that was to attack. When, therefore, Scott supposed that Worth would surprise the Mills and Casa Mata, he was met by what? Shall the veil be raised a little further? There was a traitor among the list of high ranking officers in the Mexican army, and for gold he told the Mexican force. Scott had been betrayed by one not an American, not an officer or soldier, but Santa Anna was betrayed by one of his own officers and a Mexican. Santa Anna believed the information he received and acted on it. General Scott didnotbelieve what he learned at night, and—the victory was won!"
[76]The importance of thepreviouscapture of El Molino del Rey was proved in this assault upon Chapultepec, for Pillow's division started from this very Mill, from within the enemy's work, and found itself on an equality with the foe up to the very moment of scaling the walls at the crest of the mount, whereas the other assaulting column under Quitman taking the only remaining road to the castle, a causeway leading from Tacubaya, was successfully held at bay by the outworks defending this road at the base of the hill, until after the castle was taken, and the opposing force was taken in rear by troops passing through and around Chapultepec. Had El Molino still been held by the Mexicans, the siege pieces would not have been allowed to play uninterruptedly, nor would the assaulting parties been able to take position or attack with impunity. See Lieut. Smith's Memoir, ut antea p. 8.
ATTACK OF THE CITY MOB ON THE ARMY—QUITMAN GOVERNOR—PEÑA PRESIDENT—CONGRESS ORDERED—SIEGE OF PUEBLA—LANE'S, LALLY'S AND CHILDS'S VICTORIES—GUERRILLEROS BROKEN UP—MEXICAN POLITICS—ANAYA PRESIDENT—PEACE NEGOTIATIONS—SCOTT'S DECREE—PEÑA PRESIDENT—SANTA ANNA AND LANE—SANTA ANNA LEAVES MEXICO FOR JAMAICA—TREATY ENTERED INTO—ITS CHARACTER—SANTA CRUZ DE ROSALES—COURT OF INQUIRY—INTERNAL TROUBLES—AMBASSADORS AT QUERÉTARO—TREATY RATIFIED—EVACUATION—REVOLUTIONARY ATTEMPTS—CONDITION OF MEXICO SINCE THE WAR—CHARACTER OF SANTA ANNA—NOTE ON THE MILITARY CRITICS.
ATTACK OF THE CITY MOB ON THE ARMY—QUITMAN GOVERNOR—PEÑA PRESIDENT—CONGRESS ORDERED—SIEGE OF PUEBLA—LANE'S, LALLY'S AND CHILDS'S VICTORIES—GUERRILLEROS BROKEN UP—MEXICAN POLITICS—ANAYA PRESIDENT—PEACE NEGOTIATIONS—SCOTT'S DECREE—PEÑA PRESIDENT—SANTA ANNA AND LANE—SANTA ANNA LEAVES MEXICO FOR JAMAICA—TREATY ENTERED INTO—ITS CHARACTER—SANTA CRUZ DE ROSALES—COURT OF INQUIRY—INTERNAL TROUBLES—AMBASSADORS AT QUERÉTARO—TREATY RATIFIED—EVACUATION—REVOLUTIONARY ATTEMPTS—CONDITION OF MEXICO SINCE THE WAR—CHARACTER OF SANTA ANNA—NOTE ON THE MILITARY CRITICS.
Scarcely had the divisions of the American army, after the enthusiastic expression of their joy, begun to disperse from the great square of Mexico in search of quarters, when the populace commenced firing upon them from within the deep embrasures of the windows and from behind the parapet walls of the house tops. This dastardly assault by the mob of a surrendered city lasted for two days, until it was terminated by the vigorous military measures of General Scott. Yet it is due to the Mexicans to state that this horrible scheme of assassination was not countenanced by the better classes, but that the base outbreak was altogether owing to the liberation of about two thousand convicts by the flying government on the previous night. These miscreants,—the scum and outcasts of Mexico—its common thieves, stabbers and notorious vagrants,—banded with nearly an equal number of the disorganized army, had already thronged the Palace when Quitman arrived with his division, and it was only by the active exertion of Watson's marines, that the vagrant crowd was driven from the edifice.
The city's centerGREAT SQUARE OF MEXICO.
GREAT SQUARE OF MEXICO.
General Quitman was immediately appointed civil and military Governor of the conquered capital, and discharged his duties under the martial law proclaimed by Scott on the 17th September. The general order of the Commander-in-Chief breathes the loftiest spirit of self-respect, honor and national consideration. He points out clearly the crimes commonly incident to the occupation of subdued cities, and gives warning of the severity with which their perpetrators will be punished. He protects the administration of justice among the Mexicans in the courts of the country. He places thecity, its churches, worship, convents, monasteries, inhabitants and property, under the special safeguard of the faith and honor of the American army. And finally, instead of demanding, according to the custom of many generals in the old world, a splendid ransom from the opulent city, he imposed upon it a trifling contribution of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars,—twenty thousand of which he devoted to extra comforts for the sick and wounded; ninety thousand to purchase blankets and shoes for gratuitous distribution among the common soldiers, while but forty thousand were reserved for the military chest. This act of clemency and consideration is in beautiful contrast with the last malignant spitefulness of the conquered army, whose commander, unable to overthrow the invaders in fair combat, had released at midnight, the desperadoes from his prisons, with the hope that assassination might do the work which military skill and honorable valor had been unable to effect.
Meanwhile Santa Anna despatched a circular from the town of Guadalupe recounting to the Governors of the different States the loss of the capital, and, on the 16th, he issued a decree requiring Congress to assemble at Querétaro, which was designated as the future seat of government. As president and politician, he at once saw that he could do nothing more without compromising himself still further. Resigning, therefore, the executive chair in favor of his constitutional successor, Señor Peña-y-Peña, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, he despatched General Herrera with four thousand troops to Querétaro, and departed to assail the Americans in Puebla. On the 18th he evacuated Guadalupe, and took the road to the eastward, with two thousand cavalry commanded by General Alvarez. He knew that the communication with our base of operations in that quarter was seriously interrupted if not entirely cut off; and he vainly hoped to recover his military prestige by some brilliant feat of arms over detached or unequal squadrons.
When Scott marched into the valley of Mexico, Puebla was left in charge of Colonel Childs, with four hundred efficient men and nearly eighteen hundred in his hospitals. The watchful commander and his small band preserved order until the false news of Mexican success at Molino del Rey was received. But, at that moment, the masses, joined by about three thousand troops under General Rea, a brave and accomplished Spaniard, rose upon, and besieged the slender garrison. On the 22d, Santa Anna arrived, and increasing the assailants to nearly eight thousand, made the most vigorous efforts during the six following days and nights to dislodge the Americans from the position they had seized.
About the middle of the month, Brigadier General Lane left Vera Cruz with a fresh command, and at Jalapa joined the forces of Major Lally, who with nearly a thousand men and a large and valuable train, had fought his way thither against Jarauta and his guerrilleros at San Juan, Paso de Ovejas, Puente Nacional, Plan del Rio, Cerro-Gordo and Los Animas. As soon as the news of Puebla's danger reached these commanders they marched to support the besieged band, while Santa Anna believing that Rea could either conquer or hold Childs in check until his return, departed in quest of the advancing columns of Lane and Lally, who were reported to have convoyed from the coast an immense amount of treasure. The combined lust of glory and gold perhaps stimulated this last effort of the failing chief. Rea continued the siege of Puebla bravely. Santa Anna, advancing eastward, and apparently confident of success, established his headquarters at Huamantla; but whilst manœuvering his troops to attack our approaching columns, Lane fell upon him suddenly on the 9th of October, and after a sharp action, remained victor on the field. On the next day our eager general continued his march to Puebla, and entering it on the 13th of October, drove the Mexicans from all their positions and effectually relieved the pressed but pertinacious commander of the beleagured Americans.
It was now the turn of those who had been so long assailed to become assailants. Rea retired to Atlixco, about twenty-five miles from Puebla, but the inexorable Lane immediately followed in his steps, and reaching the retreat at sunset on the 19th, by a bright moonlight cannonaded the town from the overlooking heights. After an hour's incessant labor, Atlixco surrendered,—the enemy fled,—and thus was destroyed a nest in which many a guerrillero party had been fitted out for the annoyance or destruction of Americans.
Mexico possesses a wonderful facility in the creation of armies, or in the aggregation of men under the name of soldiers. Wherever a standard is raised, it is quickly surrounded by the idlers, the thriftless, and the improvident, who are willing, at least, to be supported if not munificently recompensed for the task of bearing arms. At this period, and notwithstanding all the recent disgraceful and disheartening defeats, a large corps had been already gathered in different parts of the republic. The recruits were, however, divided into small, undisciplined, and consequently inefficient bodies. It is reported that Lombardini and Reyes were in Querétaro with a thousand men; Santa Anna's command, now turned over to General Rincon by order of President Peña-y-Peña, consisted of fourthousand; in Tobasco and Chiapas there were two thousand; Urrea, Carrabajal and Canales commanded two thousand; Filisola was at San Luis Potosi with three thousand; Peña y Barragan had two thousand at Toluca; one thousand were in Oajaca, while nearly three thousand guerrilleros harassed the road between Puebla and Vera Cruz and rendered it impassable after the victories in the valley. The conflict was now almost given up to these miscreants under Padre Jarauta and Zenobio, for, in the eastern districts, General Lane with his ardent partizans held Rincon, Alvarez, and Rea in complete check.
These guerrilla bands had inflicted such injury upon our people that it became necessary to destroy them at all hazards. This severe task was accomplished by Colonel Hughes and Major John R. Kenly who commanded at Jalapa, and by General Patterson, whose division of four thousand new levies was shortly to be reinforced by General Butler with several thousand more. Patterson garrisoned the National Bridge in the midst of these bandit's haunts, and having executed, at Jalapa, two paroled Mexican officers captured in one of the marauding corps, and refused the surrender of Jarauta, he drove that recreant priest from the neighborhood into the valley of Mexico, in which Lane pursued and destroyed his reorganized band.
Whilst these scattered military events were occurring, Peña-y-Peña, as President of the Republic, had endeavored, both at Toluca and at Querétaro, 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 assembled, 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 Querétaro and elected Señor Anaya, the former President substitute, 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 theintrigues 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 assemblage of a new one on the 1st of January, 1848; but, unfortunately most of the leaders did not depart from Querétaro 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,pronunciamientos, or any thing that might prolong the war with the same ultimate views that animated them during the armistice in August. But Peña-y-Peña and Anaya were both firm, discreet and consistent in their resistance. The assembled Governors of States resolved to support the President, his opinions, and acts, with their influence and means, while the mass 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 Peña-y-Peña 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 assumed the presidency, a few days afterwards, Peña-y-Peña 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 assume 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 assaying of the nation; it indicated the intention of our government to spread its troops all over the land; and while it reasserted 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, Peña-y-Peña, who reassumed the executive chair, as he formerly had done, by virtue of his constitutional 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.
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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 Fé in 1841, the decimation at Mier, the cruelties of Goliad and theAlamo; and the imprisonments in Mexico, Puebla, or Peroté 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 assault 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 passports, 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 pass his last days in that tranquillity which he could never find in the land of his birth." The desired passports were granted. He was assured 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 assented 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 illustrious 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 asPlenipotentiaries to Mexico to secure its passage 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 atQuerétarobut 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 illustrates a painful passage in the story of our country, for whilst Frémont, 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 passing. The great victors and the able negotiators are secure in the memory and gratitude 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 Peña-y-Peña and his cabinet still labored zealously to assemble a Congress at Querétaro. The Mexican President resolved, if necessary to obtain a quorum, to exclude NewMexico, 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 Indianpeonesandrancheros, 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 assemble at the seat of government.
On the 25th May, a brilliantcortégeof American cavalry was seen winding along the hills towards Querétaro 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 classes 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 ofDeputies. 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.
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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 classes 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 municipal 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 Constitutional President, and of Peña-y-Peña 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 Anastasio Bustamante, who with Miñon, 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 theSierra Gorda belonging to the States of Querétaro, 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 passed over Mexico. Santa Anna lives abroad in almost compulsory exile. Canalizo 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 passing 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, constitutional, and peaceful movement of her state and national machinery.
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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 classes 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 lust 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 constitution, 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 masses of his countrymen, he forgot the exhumation of the dishonored bones of Cortéz 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 hiscountry 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]