[Footnote: Colonel Doniphan, with one thousand men, the main body of General Kearney's command, marched over a thousand miles through a hostile country, from Santa Fe to Saltillo, having on the way fought two battles and conquered the province and city of Chihuahua (che-wah-wah). At the end of their term of service he marched his men back to New Orleans and discharged them. They had been enlisted, taken three thousand miles, and disbanded, all in a year.]
III. GENERAL SCOTT'S ARMY.
CAPTURE OF VERA CRUZ (March 29, 1847).—General Winfield Scott landed an army, twelve thousand strong, without opposition, and forthwith drew his siege-lines among the shifting sand-hills and chaparral thickets about Vera Cruz (map opp. p. 161). After a fierce bombardment of four days, the city and the strong castle of San Juan de Ulloa (sahn hoo-ahn' da ool-yo'-ah) were surrendered.
MARCH TO MEXICO.—Battle of Cerro Gordo (April 18).—A week afterward the army took up its march for the capital. At the mountain pass of Cerro Gordo, the enemy were strongly fortified. A road was cut around the base of the mountain through the forest, and cannon were dragged up the precipice by ropes, to the rear of the position. Thence a plunging fire was opened simultaneously with an assault in front. The Mexicans fled in such haste that Santa Anna only escaped on his wheel-mule, leaving behind him his wooden leg.
The city of Puebla (pweb-lah), next to Mexico in importance, surrendered without resistance. Here Scott waited three months for reinforcements.
Battles before Mexico.—With eleven thousand men the march was resumed (August 7), and in three days the army reached the crest of the Cordilleras, where the magnificent valley of Mexico lay stretched before them. In the midst was the city, surrounded by fertile plains and cloud-capped mountains. But the way thither was guarded by thirty thousand men and strong fortifications. Turning to the south to avoid the strongest points, by a route considered impassable, the army came before the intrenched camp of Contreras, within fourteen miles of Mexico (Aug. 19). The next morning this was taken, the troops having moved to their positions in darkness so intense that, to avoid being separated, they had to touch each other as they marched. The same day the height of Churubusco was stormed, numerous batteries were captured, and the defences laid bare to the causeways leading to the very gates of the city. An armistice and fruitless negotiations for peace delayed the advance until General Scott found that the Mexicans were only improving the time in strengthening their works. Once more (September 8) our army moved to the assault. The attack was irresistible. The formidable outworks were taken one by one. At last the castle of Chapultepec (cha-pool-te-pek), situated on a high rock commanding the city, was stormed. The next day (September 14) the army entered the city, and the stars and stripes waved in triumph over the palace of the Montezumas.
PEACE.—The fall of the capital virtually closed the war. A treaty was concluded February 2, 1848. The United States gained the vast territory reaching south to the Gila (ghee-lah), and west to the Pacific (maps of IVth and VIth Epochs).
DOMESTIC AFFAIRS.—The Wilmot Proviso.—Texas, the prize of the war, became at once the bone of contention. David Wilmot offered in Congress (August, 1846) a bill forbidding slavery in any territory which should be acquired. This measure, though lost, excited violent debate in and out of Congress, and became the great feature of the fall election.
Discovery of Gold in California.—A workman in digging a mill-race in the Sacramento valley (February, 1848) discovered shining particles of gold. A further search proved that the soil for miles around was full of the precious metal. The news flew in every direction. Emigration began from all parts of America, and even from Europe and Asia. In eighteen months one hundred thousand persons had gone from the United States to this El Dorado, where a fortune was to be picked up in a few days. Thousands made their way across the desert, amid privations which strewed the route with skeletons. The bay of San Francisco was soon surrounded by an extemporized city of shanties and booths. All ordinary employments were laid aside. Ships were deserted by their crews, who ran to the mines, sometimes, it is said, headed by their officers. Soon streets were laid out, houses erected, and from this Babel, as if by magic, grew up a beautiful city. For a time, lawlessness reigned supreme. But, driven by the necessity of events, the most respectable citizens took the law into their own hands, organized vigilance committees, and administered a rude but prompt justice which soon restored order.
POLITICAL PARTIES.—Three parties now divided the suffrages of the people. The whigs nominated General Taylor for President; the democrats, Lewis Cass; and the free-soilers, who were opposed to the extension of slavery, Martin Van Buren. The personal popularity of General Taylor, on account of his many sterling qualities and his brilliant victories in the Mexican war, made him the favorite candidate, and he was elected.