CHAPTER V.
Military and civil proclamations against the United States at Matamoros in April, 1846—General Taylor's pacific policy—Desertion from our army promoted by Ampudia and Arista—Shooting of deserters, seen swimming the river, ordered—Construction of the fort opposite Matamoros—Guerillas on the left bank—Ampudia and Arista arrive—Death of Colonel Cross—Expedition of Lieutenants Dobbins and Porter—Death of Porter—Surprise and surrender of Captain Thornton's party of dragoons—Ampudia and General Taylor on the blockade of the mouth of the river—Fort capable of defence; left under the command of Major Brown—Walker's men surprised on the prairie—Taylor goes to Point Isabel—Cannonade heard from Matamoros—May with his dragoons and Walker sent to the fort for tidings—Their adventures—Return to Point Isabel—Taylor calls on Texas and Louisiana for reinforcements—character and quality of the Texan Ranger.
The months of March and April, 1846, were fruitful in civil and military proclamations at Matamoros, manifesting a hostile spirit against our country, but General Taylor persisted in his pacific conduct and directed all under his command to observe a scrupulous regard to the municipal rights and religious usages of the quiet Mexicans whom they found in the neighborhood of the Rio Grande. In order that no pretext of ignorance might be pleaded by our adversaries, in this respect, his orders were published in Spanish as well as English, and freely distributed among the people. It is to be regretted that a similar forbearance was not exhibited by our opponents. As soon as our forces appeared in the vicinity of Matamoros they began to intrigue with our subalterns. It was known that our army, made up at random from a population of natives and emigrants, contained individuals born in Europe; and, to the religious and political prejudices of this class, the authorities addressed themselves.[105]
In consequence of these seditious appeals, the evil of desertion increased to an alarming extent, and the most effectual measures were necessary to prevent the contagion from spreading. As our deserters, by merely swimming the narrow river, were at once within the enemy's lines, pursuit and apprehension, with a view to trial, were out of the question. General Taylor, therefore, deemed it his duty, warranted by the hostile attitude of the Mexicans, to order that all men seen swimming across the river should be hailed by our pickets and ordered to return, and, in case they did not obey this summons, they should be shot. These stringent orders were verbally given to the several commanders, about the beginning of April, and checked the practice, though it is believed that only two men,—privates of fifth and seventh infantry, from France and Switzerland,—fell victims to the fatal command. Thus failed so dastardly an attempt to interfere by intrigue with the morale of our army. Taylor was undoubtedly justified in resorting to the most efficient means to prevent the decimation of his scant forces; and although some sensitive politicians in our Union were scandalized by the severity of his orders, yet, when they learned that the men who were induced to desert had been used in subsequent actions against us by the Mexicans, their philanthropic clamor was drowned in the universal voice of approval.
The manifestly warlike appearance of the Mexicans, and the attempts they were making to fortify the right bank of the river, induced General Taylor to strengthen the position of his camp on the opposite side.
Accordingly on the 6th of April a battery for four eighteen pounders, bearing directly on the public square and in good range for demolishing the town, had already been completed and the guns mounted, whilst the engineers were busy in laying out a strong bastioned field fort for a garrison of five hundred men in the rear of the battery. But the Mexicans did not leave us long in doubt as to their ultimate designs. Their chief embarrassment seemed to consist in a want of troops and efficient commanders, yet this was remedied by the arrival of considerable reinforcements in the course of the month. Meantime, however, the chapparals and lonely prairies of the left bank of the Rio Grande, swarmed with ranchero cavalry, not authorized perhaps by the powers in Matamoros to attack us directly, but whose predatory habits and Arab warfare were encouraged against small bodies of our men until the main army should be enabled to strike a decisive blow.
On the 10th of April, Colonel Cross, a deputy quarter-master-general mounted his horse and proceeded to ride, as usual, for exercise, but the night passed without his return, nor was his fate known until ten days after, when a skeleton, found on the plains, was identified as that of the unfortunate officer. The mode of his death or the names of his slayers have never been discovered. But it was generally reported and believed that he had been captured by the lawless band of Romano Falcon, a ranchero bandit, and, after being robbed of every thing valuable, was shot with a pistol by the robber captain.
With a view to check the depredations of these guerillas, Lieutenants Dobbins of the third infantry, and Porter of the fourth,—two bold and hardy soldiers,—were authorised to scour the country with a body of picked men, and capture or destroy any such parties they might encounter. It appears that they separated in quest of the enemy, and that Lieutenant Porter at the head of his own detachment surprised an armed troop, numbering nearly one hundred and fifty, engaged in jerking beef. Upon the approach of our officer one of the Mexicans snapped a musket at him, a salutation which Lieutenant Porter returned by the discharge of his double barreled gun. Upon this the Mexicans fled to the screen of the chapparal. Porter took possession of the horses and blankets of the fugitives, and, mounting his men, started for head quarters. At this moment, however, the rain began to pour down with the violence that is only witnessed in tropical climates, and whilst the Lieutenant and his party were passing through a dense copse of chapparal they were fired on by the enemy from an ambush. Shot followed shot from the secret foe in rapid succession, but our unfortunate men were unable to sustain the contest, as their powder had been soaked by the sudden shower. They wisely retreated, therefore, to the chapparal, and, separating into three parties, found their way to camp; but the luckless Porter, having been wounded in the thigh, was seized by the Mexicans as soon as his men departed, and despatched with their knives whilst they shrieked and yelled over his mangled body like a band of infuriate demons.
Acts like these, characteristic of the worst periods of border raids, denoted the approaching storm. The country east of the Rio Grande bristled with irregular troopers. It was unsafe to go beyond the hail of sentinels, and the peaceful aspect of nature which had charmed our men so greatly upon their arrival was changed for the stern alarums of war. By the joyous peals of the church bells, the shouts of acclamation, and the report of spies, we learned that General Ampudia had arrived in Matamoros, and that, some days later, he was followed by Arista, who immediately assumed the chief command and apprised General Taylor, in courteous terms, that he considered hostilities commenced and was resolved to prosecute them.
Among all these notes of warlike preparation, none perhaps were more significant than the adventure which must be now recorded. On the 24th of April a squadron of dragoons, sixty-three in number, under the orders of Captains Thornton and Hardee, and of Lieutenants Mason and Kane, was despatched by General Taylor to reconnoitre the river for thirty miles above the camp in the direction of La Rosia. When the troopers arrived within three miles of the post they learned that the enemy had crossed and occupied the country in considerable force. This was about twenty-eight miles from our camp, and as soon as the news was received, the guide, by name Capito, refused to proceed any further. It appears from all the documents I have been able to examine that Captain Thornton exercised a wise precaution on the march and in the disposition of his troops, by throwing out advance and rear guards although it was impossible to avail himself of the advantage of flankers in consequence of the nature of the road which was often a perfect defile, admitting, at times, of the passage only of a single horseman. As he had reason to doubt the fidelity of his guide, he resolved to advance without him, redoubling, however, his vigilance, and increasing his van guard, under the command of Lieutenant Mason, whom he ordered not to fire upon the enemy unless assaulted. The rear was assigned to Captain Hardee, and, in this order, the party cautiously proceeded until it reached a large plantation bordering the river and hemmed in by a fence of lofty and impenetrable chapparal. Captain Thornton endeavored to approach the houses at the upper end of this enclosure by entering its lower extremity, but failing to accomplish his object, he passed around the thicket and reached the field across a pair of bars which served for gateway. The edifice was situated about two hundred yards from this narrow aperture in the bristling wall, and, towards it, the whole command directed its steps in single file, without placing a sentinel at the bars, or observing any other precaution to prevent surprise. It seems that Captain Thornton, though a skilful and brave officer, as his campaigns against the Indians in Florida had proved, was prepossessed with the idea that the Mexicans had not crossed the river, and that even if they had, they would not fight. It was a fatal mistake. Captain Hardee, as has been stated, was charged with the rear guard and was therefore the last to enter with his horsemen. As he approached the dwelling he perceived the troopers who were already within the enclosure scattered in every direction seeking for some one with whom to communicate. At length an old Mexican was discovered, and, while Thornton was conversing with him, the alarm was given that the enemy were seen in numbers at the bars. This was a bewildering surprise. Yet the gallant commander immediately gave the order to charge and personally led the advance to cut his way through the Mexicans. But it was too late; the enemy had already secured the entrance, and it was impossible to force their serried lines. Cooped and hampered as were our men within the impervious walls of chapparal and aloes, their flight was almost hopeless. The Mexican infantry had been stationed in the field on the right of the road while their cavalry lined the exterior fence, so that our retreat was entirely cut off. Seeing this, Thornton turned to the right, and skirted the interior of the chapparal with his command, whilst the enemy poured in their vollies in every direction. By this time disorder was triumphant. Hardee dashed up to Thornton and urged that the only hope of safety was in concentrated action and in the destruction of the fence; but, though the order was immediately given, he could neither stop his men nor his horse. Our troopers, perfectly ensnared, seem to have become frantic with rage, and consequently to have lost the control of discipline. Like so many animals at bay, each one sought safety for himself, by attempting to traverse or leap the thorny boundaries of the farm. Yet all efforts were useless, for, by this time, the enemy had gained on our men with great numbers, and, completely surrounded as the plantation was, nothing remained but to surrender according to the usages of civilized nations. General Torrejon, who commanded the Mexicans, received the submission of Captain Hardee; and, together with Lieutenant Kane, who had also been captured, he was conducted to Matamoros on the 27th, where they were lodged with General Ampudia and treated most graciously by Arista. Forty-five of our cavalry were taken prisoners in this disastrous affair, but the brave Mason was slain during the conflict. Sergeant Tredo, a valiant soldier, fell in the first charge;—Sergeant Smith was unhorsed and killed,—and the bodies of seven men were found on the field of strife.[106]
This was a disheartening event for the Americans, and a subject of exultation for the Mexicans. It was neither a battle nor even an affray; yet, bearing to warfare the same relation that trapping does to sportsmanship, it nevertheless afforded material for Mexican gasconade. "This,"—said Arista in his letter of acknowledgment to Torrejon,—"has been a day of rejoicing to the division of the north which has just received the joyous news of the triumph of your brigade. The delighted country will celebrate this preliminary to the glorious deeds that her happy sons will in future present her!" For some days it was supposed that Thornton had been slain, but on the 29th his comrades were delighted to hear that he had cut his way through the enemy, and after running the gauntlet of his foes, had been captured only in consequence of the fall of his horse.
As soon as Ampudia assumed the command he ordered all Americans to leave Matamoros within twenty-four hours for Victoria, a town in the interior of Tamaulipas; and on the twelfth of April he addressed a note to General Taylor requiring him, within the same peremptory period of time to break up his camp, and retire to the other bank of the Nueces, whilst their respective governments were deciding their quarrel by negotiation. He informed our commander that if he persisted in remaining on the alleged soil of Tamaulipas, arms, alone, could decide the dispute, but that the war, which would necessarily ensue, should be conducted, upon the part of Mexico, conformably to the principles and rights established by the civilized world. General Taylor did not delay his reply. On the same day he answered the Mexican chief, that inasmuch as he was charged with the military and not the diplomatic duties of the controversy, he could not discuss the international question involved in the advance of the American army, but that he would unhesitatingly continue to occupy the positions he held at Isabel and opposite Matamoros in spite of all menaces. The hostile declarations and alternative presented by Ampudia induced Taylor to order the stringent blockade of the Rio Grande, so as to stop all supplies for the city, and the naval commander at the Brazos de Santiago was directed to dispose his forces accordingly. A body of Texan rangers, under the command of Captain Walker, a tried and daring soldier of the frontier, was stationed on the road to Point Isabel. During the night of the 27th and 28th of April, the troops, at the latter place, consisting chiefly of two companies of artillery, under the command of Major Monroe, were in momentary expectation of attack in consequence of rumors from the enemy, for it was known that large bodies of Mexicans had crossed the river and were striving to interpose themselves between Isabel and the fort opposite Matamoros in order to cut off supplies for the garrison. Several teams that departed from the depot for the fort were forced to return, and, on the morning of the 28th the camp of Walker was surprised on the prairie by a party of bold rancheros who killed five of our rangers and dispersed the rest, while the officer of the company and half of his command were absent on detached service.
By this time the works opposite Matamoros were well advanced, yet, owing to the peculiar nature of the country and our deficiency in the proper description of light troops, we were kept in ignorance of the enemy's movements on the left bank. It was ascertained, however, with sufficient certainty, that they were continuing to throw considerable forces on the eastern shore, with the design of attacking our command; and General Taylor received information, upon which he could rely, that Arista had prepared to pass the Rio Grande, below Matamoros, in order to effect a junction with his forces from above. It was not believed, however, that he would assault the position opposite that city even with four thousand men, and hence our commander-in-chief supposed that the depot at Isabel was the object of his movement. This impression was strengthened by the fact that since a rigid blockade of the river was maintained, provisions had become exceedingly scarce at Matamoros; and, therefore, hastening the completion of the field work, he was able by great exertions on the part of our troops, to bring it to a good state of defence by the first of May. The seventh infantry under Major Brown, Captain Lowd's and Lieutenant Bragg's companies of artillery, together with the sick of the army, were left in the work; and, on the afternoon of that day, General Taylor moved with the main force under his immediate command in the direction of Point Isabel. At eleven o'clock, the army, by a rapid march, was enabled to bivouac on the prairie at a distance of ten miles from the depot, and on the next day, it reached its destination without encountering the enemy, though the scouts surprised and shot several men belonging to the Mexican pickets.
On the morning and during the day of the 3d of May, a heavy cannonade in the direction of Matamoros announced to General Taylor that an attack had probably been commenced on the American fort. This was a different result from his anticipations, and made him extremely anxious for the fate of the small but brave command that had been left, with slender supplies of rations and ammunition, in the incomplete field work.
Accordingly, on the evening of that day, a squadron of one hundred dragoons under Captain May, accompanied by Walker and ten of his daring rangers, was despatched to pass, if possible, through the hordes of Mexican guerillas that lined the road. They were ordered to proceed within a few miles of Fort Brown and reconnoitre the country on the left towards the river; next to take a position on the edge of the chapparal, and, if the commander heard no firing from our fort, he was then to despatch a small command under Walker to communicate with Major Brown. After this he was to await the return of the gallant rangers, and repair to Point Isabel.
May and his troopers, alert for such an adventurous enterprize, stole onward towards Matamoros, under cover of night, and, about nine o'clock, beheld the enemy's camp fires on the field of Palo Alto. Avoiding the outposts and cautiously circling the Mexican front, he passed the foe, and galloped towards the American fort, until, hearing no sound of cannon in that direction, he halted with his command under the protecting screen of an extensive chapparal, about seven miles from Matamoros. Here he detached Walker and six of his rangers, best skilled in woodcraft, to communicate according to orders, with Major Brown, while he awaited their return in his concealed position.
It was between two and three o'clock in the morning that Walker crept up to the bastions of our fort and was hailed by the sentinel. As soon as he was recognized his party was placed in a secure position, and the bold ranger admitted by a ladder to the fort. Major Brown reported the facts of the assault from Matamoros and the condition of his defences, as speedily as possible, and Walker and his men, mounting fresh horses, dashed off towards May so as to pass the enemy's lines before day-light. But, as he approached the thicket where he left the command, he found the troopers gone; and returning to the fort, which he reached before reveille, he awaited the approach of night before he again attempted to perform his dangerous service.
Meanwhile May and his men had remained in their saddles until about half an hour before day, when, from the protracted absence of the ranger, they believed that the enemy's scouts had detected him. Walker had been already away about six hours; and as May's force was unable to cope with the supposed numbers of the Mexicans, and peremptory orders had been given to retire to Isabel, he immediately passed down the enemy's lines at a brisk gallop over the prairie. About twelve miles from our camp he suddenly discovered a hundred and fifty lancers drawn up across the road to dispute his passage, but speedily forming his line, he charged the troop, and, driving it towards the Mexican camp, followed the fugitives for three miles on his wearied horses. Fearing, however, that larger forces might be lying in ambush in the fields, and perceiving that the enemy's cavalry was fleeter than his own, he abandoned the pursuit and reached Point Isabel about nine o'clock.
But Walker was not to be defeated in his gallant effort to bear tidings to Taylor of the fortunes of the fort. As soon as it was dark on the 4th, he remounted with his trusty band and concealed on his person the despatch which Major Brown had prepared in the interval. Every copse and thicket along the road, suitable for an ambush, was filled with foes anxious to cut off his return to camp, for, as it was subsequently ascertained, the Mexicans had obtained information of his purposes. But Walker passed unhurt through all these impediments, and brought the cheerful news that all was as yet safe in the staunch little fort.
Late in April, and while the events, related in this chapter, were occurring, by which it became evident that serious hostilities were, at length, intended, General Taylor prudently began to strengthen his army by demands for reinforcements under the discretionary powers vested in him by government. In March, he had already called the notice of the war department to the necessity of sending recruits to fill up the regiments even to the extent of the existing feeble establishment; but, in April he authorized the raising of two companies of mounted men from Texas, and called upon the governor of that State for four regiments of volunteers, two of which were to act as cavalry and two to serve on foot. As some delay might occur in collecting these troops, he, moreover, desired the governor of Louisiana to despatch four regiments of infantry as soon as practicable, and, with this auxiliary force of nearly five thousand men, he hoped to prosecute the impending war with energy, or to carry it, if needful, into the enemy's country.
On the sixth of May, Lieutenant McPhail reached Point Isabel with some recruits for the army; and, after filling up the permanent garrison with the men who were still too raw to encounter the dangers of actual field service, General Taylor determined to march on the following day with the main body of the forces to open a communication with Major Brown and to throw forward the needful supplies of ordnance and provisions. The language of our chief did not betoken the fears which, at that moment, were felt throughout the country for the fate of his brave command, surrounded as it was believed to be, by an imposing army of Mexicans led by their bravest generals. "If the enemy oppose my march, in whatever force," said Taylor, "I shall fight him!" It was this little phrase that inspirited the anxious heart of his country and denoted the energetic character of the hero whose skill and genius were so soon to be developed in active warfare. When he marched from the banks of the Rio Grande on the 1st of May, the Mexicans believed that he fled to secure his personal safety at Point Isabel, whilst he abandoned the infantry and artillery in the fort opposite Matamoros as an easy prey to their valiant arms. Accordingly, the bells of the city rang their merry peals, and repeated bursts of military music denoted that it was a gala day in the ancient city. At that moment the great body of the Mexican army crossed the stream under the orders of General Torrejon, and these were the forces that Walker and his rangers had eluded while bearing to Isabel the cheering despatch from Major Brown.
At the close of this chapter, and while we are preparing for graver subjects, it may not be uninteresting for the reader to obtain a careful picture of those Texan Rangers, whose services had already proved so useful, and who were to play an important part in this bloody drama.
These were the bold and reckless children of the frontier, who lived forever in warlike harness, prompt to suppress the savage raids of the Indians and mongrel Mexicans who harrassed the settlements of western Texas in the neighborhood of the Guadalupe, La Vaca and San Antonio. Organizing themselves in regular companies for mutual protection along a ravaged border, they were continually prepared alike for camp or battle, and opposed themselves to the enemy at the outpost barriers of civilization.
It must not be supposed that men whose life is passed in the forest, on the saddle, or around the fire of a winter bivouac, can present the gallant array of troopers on parade, hence the Texan Ranger is careless of external appearance, and adapts his dress strictly to the wants of useful service. His first care is to provide himself with a stalwart and nimble horse, perfectly broken and capable of enduring fatigue in a southern climate. His Spanish saddle, or saddle frame, is carefully covered with the skins of wild animals, while, from its sides depend some twenty or thirty leathern thongs to which are attached all the various trappings needed in the woods. No baggage is permitted to accompany the troop and encumber it in the wilderness. A braided lariat and a cabaros of horse-hair are coiled around his saddle bow, the latter to be unwound at nightfall and laid in circles on the ground to prevent the approach of reptiles which glide off from the sleeper when they touch the bristling hair of the instrument, while his horse, tethered by the long and pliant lariat trailing along the ground, wanders but little from the spot where his master reposes.
Stout buckskin leggings, hunting shirt, and cap, protect the ranger's body from the sharp spines of aloes, or the briars and branches of the matted forest. His weapons, next to his horse, exact his attention. His long and heavy rifle carries from fifty to sixty bullets to the pound; around his waist is belted a bowie-knife or home made hanger, and sometimes, a brace of revolving pistols is added to this powerful armory. Across his right side are slung his pouch of balls and powder-horn, and the strap by which they are suspended is widened or padded over the shoulder to relieve the weight and pressure of his gun. A practised shot, he can hit his mark unerringly in full career. He may be called a "picked man," though not in the sense of the phrase as ordinarily used in military affairs. Nevertheless he is a choice soldier, for none but men of equal stamp and hardihood find their way to the border and congregate naturally for the hazardous life they endure.
From the period of the battle of San Jacinto to the year 1841, when they formed themselves into regular squadrons of rangers, these were the hardy woodsmen, who defended the frontier as independent troops, free from the control of State or government. Whenever Indians or Mexicans approached the settlements, runners were quickly despatched along the streams to sound the alarm, and in a few hours the wild huntsmen were roused for a campaign of months. All they needed for the foray was their horse, their weapons, their blankets, their pouch with fifty balls, and their bushel of parched and pounded corn. In hot weather or cold, in wet or dry, they carried no tents, and required no fresh food save the game of the forest. Such was the Texan Ranger at the outbreak of this war,—light in heart, indomitable in courage, capable of vast endurance, and sworn in his hatred of Indians and Mexicans. His life was one of continual anxiety and surprises which made him alert and watchful. He was neither a troubadour nor a crusader, yet his mode of existence had charms for multitudes of adventurers. It was not disgust with society or disregard of its comforts that forced these knights errant to the forest and kept them in a state of continual excitement; but there was a certain degree of romance in their wandering career that entitled them to respect and consideration even from the more sentimental inhabitants of cities. A life without restraint, except needful subordination when on actual duty, is always attractive, and the forester realizes it completely. Thinking much and speaking little, he considers his officer of no more value or importance than himself. Hence he yields obedience only because he knows the necessity of discipline in a hazardous service, while, off of duty, he is as familiar with his commander as with a private.
Thus the Ranger's existence has ever been a scene of fierce independence; and though approaching the ranchero in some of his restless habits, he has, nevertheless, always been distinguished from that vile compound of ferocity, treachery and cruelty, by the remnants of civilization he has borne to the solitudes of the wilderness. He was destined to be of infinite value to the regular army in a country where it was important to obtain information by reckless means among an almost Arab population. Subsequent events proved that no scouting service was so severe, no adventure so dangerous, that he would not risk his life and exercise the cunning of his craft in performing it either on the thorny banks of the Rio Grande or among the mountain defiles of Monterey.
FOOTNOTES:
[105] The following document was circulated by Mexican emissaries and spies among our troops:
"The commander-in-chief of the Mexican army to the English and Irish under the orders of the American General Taylor:
"Know Ye: That the government of the United States is committing repeated acts of barbarous aggression against the magnanimous Mexican nation; that the government which exists under "the flag of the stars" is unworthy of the designation of Christian. Recollect that you were born in Great Britain; that the American government looks with coldness upon the powerful flag of St. George, and is provoking to a rupture the warlike people to whom it belongs, President Polk boldly manifesting a desire to take possession of Oregon, as he has already done of Texas. Now, then, come with all confidence to the Mexican ranks, and I guarantee to you, upon my honor, good treatment, and that all your expenses shall be defrayed until your arrival in the beautiful capital of Mexico.
"Germans, French, Poles, and individuals of other nations! Separate yourselves from the Yankees, and do not contribute to defend a robbery and usurpation which, be assured, the civilized nations of Europe look upon with the utmost indignation. Come, therefore, and array yourselves under the tri-colored flag, in the confidence that the God of armies protects it, and that it will protect you equally with the English.
PEDRO DE AMPUDIA.
Francisco R. Moreno, Adj. of the commander-in-chief.
Head Quarters, upon the Road to Matamoros, April, 2, 1846."
Another and similar appeal was made by Arista on the 20th of April.
[106] Captains Thornton's and Hardee's reports to General Taylor. H. of R. doc. No. 119, 29th cong. 2d sess. pp. 19 and 20.