Illustration: GENERAL PIERCE, ENTERING PUEBLA.GENERAL PIERCE, ENTERING PUEBLA.GENERAL PIERCE.
Illustration: GENERAL PIERCE, ENTERING PUEBLA.GENERAL PIERCE, ENTERING PUEBLA.
GENERAL PIERCE, ENTERING PUEBLA.
General Franklin Piercewas among the bravest of the brave who fought during the Mexican war. He took command of a reinforcement of twenty-four hundred men, at Vera Cruz, shortly after the battle of Cerro Gordo, and set out to join General Scott, who was waiting at the city of Puebla for more troops. At the National Bridge, he was attacked by a large body of Mexicans, and narrowly escaped being killed, a ball passing through his hat. He succeeded, however, in defeating the enemy, and inflicting upon them a heavy loss in men. Hethen pushed on, and met with no interruption till he arrived at Puebla. After his arrival, the commander-in-chief completed his arrangements and set out for the capital. In the first attack upon Contreras, General Pierce was wounded in the knee, while leading his brigade against the enemy. But he kept the field until midnight. The next day he joined the brigade, and pressed forward among the most heroic. He had dismounted to leap a ditch, forgetting his wound, when he fainted and fell directly in the line of the enemy’s fire. His escape from death was a miracle.