Great Events in the History of North and South America

by Charles A. Goodrich

The city was found to be of great strength. There were mounted forty-two pieces of cannon. The Mexican force consisted of seven thousand troops of the line and two or three thousand irregulars. The American force was four hundred and twenty-five officers, and six thousand two hundred and twenty men. The artillery was one ten-inch mortar, two twenty-four pound howitzers, and four light field batteries, of four guns each.

The American loss was twelve officers and one hundred and eight men killed; thirty-one officers and three hundred and thirty-seven men wounded. The loss of the Mexicans was still more considerable. An armistice was allowed by General Taylor, of eight weeks, subject to be revoked by either government. On receiving intelligence of the armistice and its conditions, the American government, it is said, directed its termination. The Mexican army was permitted to retire, and marched out with the honors of war.

Victory at Buena Vista.—For some months following the occupation of Monterey, General Taylor was variously employed; during which time, with what he had already achieved, the conquest of the provinces of New Mexico, New Leon, Coahuila, and Tamaulipas, in the Mexican republic, had been effected.

As an advance still farther into the interior of Mexico was ordered by the government, General Worth, with his division, had some time previously been sent forward to take the pass at Saltillo, fifty miles west of Monterey. To this point, leaving a force of one thousand five hundred men to garrison Monterey, General Taylor directed his course on the 31st of January, and, on the 2d of February, reached Saltillo. His effective force at this time was about five thousand. On the 4th of February, he advanced upon Agua Nueva, a strong position on the road leading from Saltillo to San Luis; at which place intelligence was received, on the 21st, that Santa Anna, the Mexican general-in-chief, with an army exceeding twenty thousand men, was on the advance. Finding his present position, at Agua Nueva, less favorable for a conflict with a force so overwhelming, he fell back upon Buena Vista, a strong mountain-pass, eleven miles nearer Saltillo. Of the five thousand troops, of which his army was composed, less than five hundred were regulars; while, on the other hand, the army of Santa Anna consisted of the flower of the Mexican nation. The odds were fearful, being more than four to one.

At length, on the 22d of February, the Mexican army bore down upon General Taylor, whose troops, now formed in order of battle, calmly awaited the approach of the Mexican host. Halting his army at some little distance, Santa Anna sent a summons to General Taylor to surrender; to which the hero of Palo Alto very politely, but laconically replied, "I beg leave to say, that I decline acceding to your request."

Still, the enemy forbore, for a time, an attack, evidently waiting the arrival of his rear columns. But on the morning of the 23d, the conflict between the armies began. A full description of the battle would occupy pages. Few engagements were ever entered upon when the forces were so unequal in numbers. That victory should declare for Taylor and his five thousand troops, is the wonder and admiration of all military men. But while all due praise is accorded to the infantry and the few cavalry engaged, the most effectual work was accomplished by the artillery. The American artillery cannot probably be excelled. At one moment—a most critical and anxious moment it was—when it seemed nearly impossible but that the Mexican army should overpower—if by no other means, by the force of numbers—Captain Bragg was ordered to take a particular position with his battery, the Mexican line being but a few yards from the muzzle of his pieces. The first discharge of the cannister caused the enemy—probably advancing as they were—to pause and hesitate; while a second and third discharge drove them back in disorder; and, in the words of General Taylor, "saved the day."

That night—it was a night intensely cold—the American soldiers were compelled to bivouac without fires, expecting that the morning would renew the conflict. During the night, the wounded were removed to Saltillo. The following day, prisoners were exchanged, the dead were collected and buried; and it may be added, that the Mexican wounded, left upon the field by Santa Anna, were sent to Saltillo, and comfortably provided for.

The loss of the Americans during the action was, killed, two hundred and sixty-seven; wounded, four hundred and fifty-six; missing, twenty-three. The Mexican loss in killed and wounded was supposed to amount to two thousand—five hundred of whom were left upon the field of battle. "Our loss," says General Taylor in his official dispatch, "has been especially severe in officers, twenty-eight having been killed upon the field. We have to lament the death of Captain George Lincoln, assistant adjutant-general, serving in the staff of General Wool—a young officer of high bearing and approved gallantry, who fell early in action. No loss falls more heavily upon the army in the field than that of Colonels Hardin and McKee, and Lieutenant-colonel Clay. Possessing in a remarkable degree the confidence of their commands, and the last two having enjoyed the advantage of a military education, I had looked particularly to them for support, in case we met the enemy. I need not say, that their zeal in engaging the enemy, and the cool and steadfast courage with which they maintained their positions during the day, fully realized my hopes, and caused me to feel yet more sensibly their untimely loss."

The annals of American warfare probably do not furnish a more remarkable victory than this of Buena Vista, whether we consider the inequality of the forces engaged—the character of the forces, being nearly all volunteers on the American side, and regular troops on the other—or the decisive nature of the victory itself. Most remarkable were the coolness and gallantry displayed; but it must be remembered that that coolness and gallantry were, in no slight degree, the result of those qualities which so eminently distinguished the commanding general himself.

Capture of Vera Cruz.—Events connected with the prosecution of the war, will require us in the next place to speak of transactions in another quarter of that agitated and long-distracted country.