Two Wars: An Autobiography of General Samuel G. French / Mexican War; War between the States, a Diary; Reconstruction Period, His Experience; Incidents, Reminiscences, etc.

by Samuel Gibbs French

Th. S. Jesup, Quartermaster General.

Capt. S. G. French, Assistant Quartermaster, Washington City.

In pursuance of the above orders I proceeded to San Antonio, and reported for duty on the 24th of February, and commenced making preparations for the organization of the train. Many of the wagons required for the service, and all the stores, were still on the coast, and all the available means that Maj. Babbitt had were immediately employed in bringing them to the depot at San Antonio. An estimate of the number of animals that would be required was made, and, as there were not enough in his possession, some three hundred were received by purchase, and formed into teams for the road, and a small train thus organized was dispatched to Indianola to hasten up with the subsistence. But little hired transportation could be procured, for the severity of the winter had destroyed all vegetation, and the cattle could barely subsist. Some of the stores thus sent by the citizens from the coast were nearly or quite a month on the road up to the depot at San Antonio. By the last of April most of the stores had arrived, the requisite number of employees had been engaged, and the loading of the wagons was commenced. As they received the loads, they were sent in small detachments to Leona, the point I had designated as the general rendezvous. By the 7th of May the last train left the depot, and I started with it for Leona. The supplies for El Paso were kept separate from those drawn for the escort and employees, and, in order to avoid the expense of transporting salt provisions for the command, I received from the commissary of subsistence eighty days' fresh meat, the beeves being driven along by men in the employ of the contractors, and furnished when required. As the Indians on the borders had manifested considerable hostility during the spring, I deemed it necessary to ask of Maj. Gen. Harney, commanding the department, the protection of an escort. For this service a detachment of eighty men from the first regiment of infantry was ordered; but, as the transportation of their subsistence would incur considerable expense, I thought it consistent with proper economy and perfect safety to suggest its reduction to fifty men. The number was accordingly diminished, and on my reaching Fort Inge I found the escort there under the command of Capt. B. H. Arthur awaiting my arrival, and I will here express my obligations to him for the cheerful aid he always afforded me.

I encamped at the rendezvous on the 11th. On the 12th the last of the wagons arrived, and the day following was passed in making final preparations for our departure. The entire expedition, comprising one hundred and fifty wagons (including three belonging to Maj. Backus,[17] Capt. Sitgreaves, and Lieut. Williamson, en route to New Mexico) and over one thousand animals, moved on the 14th, and encamped on the banks of the Nueces. These numbers were further increased by those of citizens availing themselves of our protection to pass through the Indian country.

The march was now continued without any accidents or unnecessary delay, until the night of the 23d, when we were visited by a thunderstorm, accompanied by such violent gusts of wind as to prostrate all our tents and expose us to the rain till morning. We were encamped in the valley of the San Pedro river, and, knowing that it was subject to sudden overflows from heavy falls of rain, I examined the ford the next day about noon, and could perceive only a slight rise in the water, and therefore commenced crossing the baggage wagons, giving directions for the main train to follow soon after; but no sooner were the former completely over than in the space of a few minutes the waters rose several feet, thereby completely cutting off all communication with the main train for nearly two days. The waters having subsided enough so as not to enter the wagon bodies, the stream was passed, and we continued the march again without interruption to the Pecos river. We found the water of this stream low; but an examination of the ford led me to believe that it was still too deep to pass over in safety, and I was obliged to cause three cylindrical iron rods, or wires, that had been left across the river by the contractors for the year previous, to be raised and secured to the shores by means of strong cables, which being planked over formed a suspension bridge forty feet in length, over which the wagons with the stores were run by hand. About seventy wagons had been thus passed across, when the end of one of the rods that was bent at a right angle broke, and the bridge became impassable. A second examination of the river led to the discovery of a ledge of rocks affording a good bottom, where the rest of the wagons were driven across with but little difficulty. The west bank of the river having been gained, we resumed our journey. At the Comanche Springs we were overtaken by Col. J. D. Graham, U. S. army, topographical engineer, on his way to the Mexican Boundary Commission, who continued with us to El Paso.

The disappointment arising from not having water where on former occasions it had been characterized as permanent or living, together with the parched-up condition of the country, caused me to move with more circumspection. The Lempia was found dry its entire length, excepting one place, that was a mile distant from the road and almost inaccessible to animals, and another at its source at the Painted Camp. I therefore remained at the last-mentioned place, and sent expresses ahead to look for water, which resulted in the discovery of a pool in a ravine twenty miles in advance, to which point we moved. The condensation of vapor on the mountain sides caused some rain to fall about ten miles farther on the road, where the men in advance, by digging trenches on the plain, drained it from the surface where it had not been absorbed, in sufficient abundance for all the animals. Preparations had been made in anticipation of a long journey without water, by filling all the water barrels and kegs at the Lempia. There was now but little hope of finding water short of Eagle Springs, sixty-five miles distant, and the weather being extremely warm, and the roads excessively dusty, I started at two o'clock A.M.; but, much to the joy of every one, a small hole containing water enough for a part of the advance train was found about sunrise, and two others containing sufficient to allow each animal a few quarts were discovered where we halted at noon; again about sunset some was found in a small water gulley in Providence Creek, and each animal was given a few gallons as they passed by and moved in advance in quest of an encamping place where there was some grazing for the animals. But the dryness of the herbage seemed only to increase the thirst of the poor mules, and all night they kept up a continued braying. At one A.M. I again started for the springs, still twenty-nine miles distant, halting at eleven o'clock to give the animals all the water in the kegs and to permit them to graze. Our baggage wagons and the advance of the escort continued on to the springs, which, to the astonishment of all, were so nearly dry that the few animals with us scarcely got enough to slake their thirst. I immediately set some men to the task of digging out the springs, and dispatched a party several miles up the mountains to where on a former occasion a large stream was found running, but they returned and reported it perfectly dry. As to procuring water from the springs where the men were digging, it was an impossibility. While thus perplexed, a thunder shower that hovered around a distant peak of the mountains, and then rolled up the valley, for a time inspired hope, but like the cloud it soon passed away. About four P.M. the trains arrived, and I directed them to continue the march all night to the Rio Grande, thirty-two miles distant. All day difficulties had been accumulating. In the morning an express had overtaken us, giving the information that some of the mules belonging to the Boundary Commission had strayed for water during the night, and they were unable to move from Providence Creek. They could not be left there without water; and, lest the missing animals should not be recovered, I caused four teams to remain at Eagle Springs; so that, should their animals be irrecoverably lost, I might give assistance to get their wagons up to the springs the next day, and resolved to remain in camp till two o'clock the next morning, believing that ere then they would reach our camp, which fortunately was the case. At two o'clock in the morning I left the springs, and arrived at the mouth of the cañon[18] through which the valley of the Rio Grande is gained, about nine A.M., and found in it near twenty wagons blocking up the passage, the animals exhausted for want of water and from fatigue. They were immediately loosed and driven to the river, eight miles distant, where the main body was encamped, and in the evening these wagons were brought into camp from out the cañon where they had been left. Thus, from not finding water at Eagle Springs, and being obliged to continue on to the Rio Grande, the trains were forced to make a march of ninety-six miles in fifty-two consecutive hours, the last sixty miles having been made in thirty hours. These marches were as disagreeable as can well be imagined, and continued to be so to the place of destination, owing to the intolerable heat, the thermometer during the day in the shade standing at 110 degrees, and to the immense volumes of dust that rested on either side the road like a cloud, obscuring everything from the view, except when wafted away by the wind.

We reached El Paso on the 24th of June, forty-nine days after leaving San Antonio, during which time thirty-nine only were passed in traveling. The stores were all delivered in good condition; and an estimate being made of what would be required on the return trip, I found more salt provisions on hand than were necessary, and therefore caused a part of them to be left at San Elizario, whereby the supplies were increased by about eighteen hundred rations. As soon as the stores were delivered and I could complete my duties, the journey homeward was commenced. We left El Paso on the 7th of July, and reached San Antonio on the 9th of August. The same difficulty in regard to water was not experienced when returning; for at Eagle Springs Mr. Smith, a gentleman who had charge of a small train of wagons, arriving there about a week after us, finding no water, remained there in camp while his animals were being driven to the Rio Grande, thirty-two miles distant, and dug out the springs to a capacity four times greater than I had left them. I also divided the train in sections, marching on consecutive days, so as to let the springs fill during the intervals between the departure and the arrival. The marches were always made with a view to favor the animals, and the time of starting, etc., was determined by the circumstances of distance, the weather, grazing, and water. On the journey out, I generally had the animals corralled at night for safety when there was no moon; but after the stores were delivered, and the main object of the expedition had been accomplished, more risk could be afforded; and accordingly, from the time we left the Rio Grande until the arrival at San Antonio, the animals were herded all the time excepting when in harness. By thus giving them every opportunity to graze, and always traveling with a view to favoring them, I am pleased to state that they returned to the depot in about as good condition as when they started, after marching a continuous journey of more than two thousand miles, if the trips to the coast from the depot be included. The loss of animals from deaths, straying, thefts, and otherwise, from the rendezvous to El Paso and back, was two and a fraction to each hundred. No Indians were ever met on the route, though the guard at night on two occasions fired on what were supposed to be Indians. Often they hovered near our camp, making signal fires on the mountains.

In regard to the country through which the route lies, you were furnished with a description in a former communication. Of course all the peculiar characteristics that it has obtained from the formations remain the same; but every feature of productiveness and beauty, derived from the seasons in their annual course, is sensibly changed, and to the eye it presents but little that is attractive, owing to the drought. From the Nueces to the mountains, which divide the waters that flow into the Pacific from those that flow into the Atlantic, the whole country appears altered. But little rain has fallen for near two years, and hills that before were clothed in verdure now are bare. Valleys that seemed to vie in fertility with the most favored appear sterile; and plains where two years ago the tall grass waved like fields of wheat now are rocky and barren. Parasitical plants hang leafless to the trees, and the mistletoe has ceased to put forth its buds. Where the prairie had been swept over by the fires of the previous summer the surface of the earth was still black and covered with ashes, and nothing green showed that the spring season had passed. The vegetation of the previous years had become so dried and withered by the scorching rays of the sun that it appeared cineritious, crumbling into ashes or dust when pressed in the hand or trodden on by animals. The little lakes that once bordered the streams were dried up, and the streams themselves had often ceased to flow. Even the prairie dogs had forsaken the central part of their town, from starvation, and inhabited the suburbs bordering on the vegetation that widely encircles them, remote from their former homes. It seemed as if Providence had withdrawn his protecting care and left the country to itself. I never before had such a negative proof of the fertilizing properties of rain and dews. The general aspect of that vast extent of country west of the Nueces is thus changed from what it was two years since, when it was an untrodden wilderness unknown to the white man. A general drought has prevailed, and it was only occasionally that green grass was found where a shower had passed in the spring. Notwithstanding the tide of immigration settling into the country, the acknowledged enterprise of our people, the rapid subjugation of the wild lands to useful purposes by the settlers, and the utmost protection that may be given to the advance of all our settlements—yet such are the few attractions that most of that region of country, on the route west of the intersection of the table-lands with the Rio Grande, Northern Mexico, or perchance to the Pacific Coast, it will be a long time before it can attract the attention of agriculturists, or even become a pastoral country to any great extent. The establishment of a mail route from San Antonio to El Paso may cause a small post to be established at Live Oak Creek or Howard's Springs, but, generally speaking, the San Felipe limits the fertile portions of Texas (south of the great plain) in a westerly direction.

I have endeavored to collect some information in regard to the Indians, as required by your orders, and from having been on duty in Texas principally, since 1848, during which time I have traveled over a considerable portion of the country they frequent (in the south and west as far as New Mexico), some conclusions I have arrived at may differ from the generally received opinions in regard to them.

Their numbers appear to have been considerably overestimated, if the report of men who have been among them can be relied on, and the information gained by Lieut. Col. Hardee in his late expedition to their country be correct. It is believed that the entire number, including all ages and the different sexes, of all the tribes that frequent the border settlements of Texas, in the Eighth Military Department, does not exceed four thousand.