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think that a general has nothing to do, but to lead his troops against the enemy, may be surprised at the unexpected qualities which are found necessary to constitute the chief of an army. It is true that his mere attention to the minutiahowever necessary-may not have convinced the grumblers of his fitness for a commander, any more than the fact that he happened to have "men about him that are fat,"* like Julius Cæsar, demonstrated that he must therefore be as bald as that illustrious hero, or that he must be slaughtered in the Senate chamber.

The great blunder-originating at Washington and growing out of an insane desire to concentrate troops in advance as rapidly as possible-in ordering us to San Antonio, before a proper accumulation of supplies, was with much difficulty finally overcome, even by the energy of General Wool. The governmental folly of marching more than two regiments from Labaca, a month before their services were required, was not only ruinously expensive, but materially retarded the operations of the campaign. The consequence was, that for a time rations were consumed as fast as they arrived; whereas if we had remained at Camp Irwin, where we might have been equally well instructed, the wagons employed in hauling provisions for our daily consumption, could have been engaged in adding that quantity -probably not less than forty thousand rations to the supplies destined to accompany the army.

Preparatory to a speedy advance, a general review of all the troops was ordered to come off on Sunday, the 20th of September. The commanding general, in costume and bearing worthy of his position, with a portion of his staff, appeared in full uniform; the remaining portion might have been taken for harle quins, such was the ridiculous variety of their uniformity. One thing or the other ought to prevail. If the full dress is not to be taken into the field and worn by all, it ought to be abolished. It is the popular opinion that an army is intended for war rather than for peace, and a style of dress adapted only to the latter vocation, ought to be banished from the service. Whether caps or chapeaus, dress coats or frocks, pompons or plumes, are worn, all should fare alike in the finery. It is certainly more in accordance with the dictates of good taste, if not with military propriety, to make a display of uniform

simplicity, rather than of mongrel magnificence.

With the thermometer stretching to ninety-six degrees of Fahrenheit, and every sunbeam plunging torrents of caloric upon the earth, the motley cavalcade left town about 2 o'clock, P. M. Half way to the camp, an ugly cloud made its appearance, and before the party came in sight of the tents, every member of it was thoroughly drenched. Polished steel sabres were for the time lustreless, and epaulettes wept in sorrow over the destruction of their brightness; plumes, which a few moments before rose with conscious gracefulness above the arched necks of gallant steeds, now drooped mournfully towards the earth, and white pantaloons were starchless, which, when donned, had the form and pressure of a Corinthian column. The sun, however, soon dispelled these watery appliances-though without restoring the starch-and before the grand exhibition commenced, the moisture had almost entirely evaporated from the reeking limbs of horse and rider, and the party entered upon the field almost as brilliant -if not quite as beautiful—as a rainbow from the shower.

The display, considering the character of the troops-the volunteers constituting much the larger portion,-and from necessity but imperfectly drilled-was respectable and imposing. Having passed from the right down the front of the line, and back by the rear, the general took his position opposite the centre. The line then wheeled into column, preparatory to passing in review. The battery of artillery was in advance; their bronze pieces and glittering sabres flashing back the rays of the sun as proudly as they were received; while the martial bearing of the men, and their precise and accurate evolutions, vindicated their right to the post of honor. Then came the two squadrons, one from each regiment of dragoons. Armed with pistol, carbine, and sabre, whose bright blades and barrels gleamed in the sunbeams, each man seemed a host and looked the hero. After these followed the infantry with measured tread and stately bearing: each company moving as if by machinery, controlled by an invisible power. To those familiar with army operations, this may have seemed a small affair, but the effect during the march of the column far surpassed in beauty the military displays to which we are accustomed at home. In the background rose

The reader. may perhaps be reminded of the inspector-general, the chief quarter-master, the aide-decamp, &c., &c.

a range of hills, carpeted with verdure, and relieved by groups of trees, picturesquely planted by the hand of nature. Prairies stretched away to the right, far as the eye could reach, swelling into hillocks or sinking into valleys, in a series of lively and romantic undulations. In front the silver waters of the San Antonio flowed in quiet beauty, through banks gorgeously decked with the varied foliage of autumn. Upon a plain thus bounded, the column moved to the stately notes of martial music, with waving plumes and floating banners; rattling sabres and glittering bayonets; the "war horse whose neck is clothed with thunder," champing at his bit, and the "ear-piercing fife and spirit-stirring drum," all contributed to it the perfection of the spectacle, and made one that will not soon be forgotten by the lookers on-nor by those probably who were so thoroughly soaked in the preliminaries.

But there is ever but one step between the sublime and the ridiculous, and our review was but another illustration of the fact. There is no way of controlling the curiosity of a recruit; it runs through all the feminine degrees, from fifteen to fifty, and such turning, and twisting, and dodging, and squinting, to see all that was going on, while the general was riding up and down the line, could only be rivalled by a battalion of the happy inmates of another Capsicum Hall. One cocks up the visor of his cap here, and another throws back the broad brim of a chip hat there; a third performs a semi-revolution to the great peril of his perpendicularity in one place, while perhaps a fourth whirls entirely around upon his axis, causing the whole company, like the plane of the ecliptic, to make a very variable angle with the regimental equator.

The order for the advance to march on the 26th, was issued on the 22d: the body to consist of the artillery, 2d dragoons (one squadron), three companies of the 6th infantry, one Kentucky company, two companies from each of the Illinois regiments, and six companies of the Arkansas cavalry.

A sort of cabinet council-a conclave of the "ten "-was ordered to convene the same evening at head quarters. The commanding general appeared determined to shake the staff napkin, to discover if possible what gem was hidden in it. If all were present, it would not be difficult to fancy the character of the proceedings. We may imagine that the same stale suggestions, the same sage questions, the same solemn responses, were repeated

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haps inquired how many common tents a common wagon will carry, while

was curious to know how many shirts an officer should take into the field, and probably quoted the example of Frederick the Great these themes having afforded matter for serious thought and speculation, the assembled military wisdom doubtless dispersed to their respective quarters to dream of fifth-chains," "mule-wagons," 66 hard-bread," "gunpowder," and glory.

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The weather did not smile upon our incipient effort at the conquest of Mexico. For weeks we had had no rain, and the troops that marched the 26th, were anticipating fine roads and a pleasant promenade to the Rio Grande. Their hopes suddenly submerged, as on the night of the 24th we were visited with a miniature deluge, and the streets for two days were mudno one knows positively how deep-but to the depth of every man's specific gravity. Wagon masters, teamsters, and muledrivers, and every other camp retainer busy for the march, wore visages as long and wo-begone, as Don Quixote's in his greatest tribulations. San Antonio was perhaps never before the scene of so much life and activity, but in the midst of the bustle, all was dejection and disgust. The speedy prospect of "enlarging the area of freedom," an object so dear to many of our patriotic hearts, was incapable of relaxing any man's grim visage into a smile. The effect of the weather was too deep, and so was the mud.

The troops left in the morning, as prescribed in the order of the 22d. The roads were bad, but the temperature was much improved by the rain. The different detachments were directed to meet at the Medio. When united they came under the command of Colonel Harney, whose patriotic exertions a few weeks before, in attempting "on his own hook," the conquest of Coahuila, were not crowned with complete success. He is a dashing officer,

however, but, acting from impulse, he may sometimes err in his views of duty.*

The order of march was promulgated in a "memoranda," from the adjutantgeneral's office, in which the "pioneers" were placed nearly in the rear. From the position to which they were thus assigned, it may be presumed that they had in some way forfeited their proper functions, as a "pioneer" is defined to be "one who marches in advance of an army, to hew down woods, clear roads, &c." If these were mere nominal pioneers, it was of little consequence perhaps, whether they were in front or rear; but if they were intended to be of practical utility, the propriety of their position must be found in the apparent slip of the pen, to which they must be indebted for it.

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At 8 o'clock on the morning of the 29th, the escort of the commanding general was drawn up in line in the lower plaza. The town was of course agog. Streets, doors, and windows, were lined with wagons, carts and cattle, loafing Texans, and sombreroed Mexicans, señoras and señoritas, muchachas naked and halfnaked, all staring as if an event as wonderful as the inauguration of a President was occurring. The result probably disappointed many, as the affair passed off quietly and without display. The cavalcade moved from town a few minutes before nine, with clanging arms but without music or banners.

Three miles from San Antonio, we crossed the bed of the arroyo Alazan, now reduced to a dry mass of gravel. Near the rising and open grounds in the vicinity, which derive their name from the sometime stream, Santa Anna encamped with his army, in 1836, prior to his descent upon the town, and the siege of the Alamo. It is affirmed, by the way, of this most remarkable shuttlecock of fortune, that a night or two before the arrival of his forces at the heights of Alazan, he entered San Antonio in disguise, was present at, and, not being then troubled with a wooden

leg, participated in the gyrations of a fandango, with those who a few weeks later became the victims of his barbarity. These heights are also famed as the scene of a conflict which occurred in 1814, between the troops of two rival Mexican factions.

After leaving this place, the country becomes higher and broken, but except where relieved at distant intervals by the vegetation which skirts an occasional stream, is one vast prairie, treeless, herbless, lifeless,-diversified, it is true, by hill and dale, but suggesting no ideas save those of sterility and desolation. Several fires were blazing amid the grass, and the flames were whirled aloft in spiral columns, as the wind caught the fire, creeping snakelike over the ground; but there was nothing of the frightful rapidity which Mr. Cooper so graphically describes; nothing to produce frantic terror, even in a child, nor an approach to the sublimity of horror which he has so vividly and fearfully portrayed. Night perhaps would have added to the magnificence of the scene, but unfortunately we could not pause our motto being, business before beauty.

The picturesque valley of Culebra, through which flows a small stream that falls into the Medina, lies a mile or two from the Wool † road, and about fifteen miles northwest from San Antonio. It was formerly occupied as an extensive stock rancho, attached to the Mission of San Jose. This rancho was near the centre of eleven leagues of land granted by the Spanish government to the Indians of this region, subject to the control and ministrations of the pious fathers, who celebrated their orgies and their orisons within the consecrated walls of that grand and gloomy structure. Immense herds of sheep, goats and cattle, at that time covered the plains, over which barrenness flourishes now in uncontested dominion.

We forded the Medina about four o'clock in the afternoon. It is a beautiful little stream, rolling over a bed of solid limestone at the crossing place, clear as crystal, and flowing with a very rapid current. Our route lay through the village now growing up here, to the spot chosen for our encampment, about a mile beyond.

This village (Castroville) was founded in 1844, by Mr. Henry Castro, of Paris.

*In the daring charge at Cerro Gordo-perhaps the most brilliant single achievement of the war-compared with which the celebrated canter at Resaca sinks into comparative insignificance, Col. Harnoy has established his claims to the first rank as a cavalry officer, and there his

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The location, considered in reference to the romance of reality, is very beautiful. It lies in a lovely valley, the pellucid waters of the Medina tumbling over the rocks on one side, and gracefully undulating plains and hills stretching in every direction on the other. The settlement is in extreme infancy, and one cannot well judge how the experiment will terminate, but at present, the evidences of prosperity are not very satisfactory. The buildings are all small, of gossamer materials and rudely put together, the timber of the country being hardly large enough for rails. The products of the last year have consisted mostly of a few hundred bushels of corn, and it is not probable that the quantity will soon be materially increased. Notwithstanding the apparently liberal offers of the proprietor-three hundred and twenty acres to every married man who will domiciliate himself-the population increases but slowly, the inducements for agriculturists to settle here being so few. The soil is only of moderate fertility, and the means of getting produce to market, worse than wretched.

The camp was honored about sunset by a visit from the daughter and granddaughter of Mr. Castro, to pay their respects to the commanding general. They were apparelled in neat riding costume, and mounted on small Mexican ponies, and accompanied by several attendants. The daughter had all the complimentary exuberance of the French character, and with less experienced veterans, there might have been fears for their blushes. There

was no difficulty, however, in this instance in appreciating the fine things that were said, as General Wool having himself flourished in the salons of Paris, was quite able to repay them in kind.

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The incident just related, gests, presents a strong invitation to indulge in a little classical pedantry, by way of introducing some very pretty and profound reflections upon the striking resemblance of this visit to that of Agrippina to the Roman legions. But as we are in Texas now and not on the Tiber, our troops Steen's cavalry and not Cæsar's cohorts, the occasion must pass unimproved. Neither is it conceived necessary to indulge in a chapter of lamentations over the troubles, and inconveniences, and perplexities, and privations incident to a transition from the halls of Paris to the huts of prairiedom: this was doubtless a matter of choice and speculation, and those who seek notoriety or profits from such migrations, must find their recompense in the particular gratification.

The call of the ladies was returned in the evening by General Wool and his aide-de-camp, the latter, it is said, an accomplished French scholar, whose fluency, for a while, may have beguiled the damsels into the sweet delusion that they were once more in the land of their nativity. Thus auspiciously closed the first day of our advance, distance marched twentyseven miles.

The stars were yet twinkling when our camp was first in motion the next morning. The air was raw and chilly, and the long rank grass drooping with the heavy deposits of dew. The river here is about three feet deep, foaming like a torrent, and the music of its waters rolling over the white pebbles of its bottom, gives to the wild and romantic scene a singular fascination. Many of us made our toilet on the bank, the river forming a natural mirror, and the foliage above and around, a more magnificent boudoir than art has ever conceived. The deep repose and quiet grandeur with which nature was here imbued gave new force and beauty to Bryant's exquisite thought

"Tho groves were God's first temples."

On such a morning as this, and with the scene before me as memory now recalls it, seated upon the bended trunk of an overhanging ash, there is a sense of awe, of reverence, and of devotion excited, surpassing any which has its origin in the loftiest and proudest structures of man. The place seems formed for prayer and meditation, and I could not resist offering an humble invocation to the Supreme Ruler of the universe, for strength and guidance for the future, and presenting the offerings and acknowledgments of a grateful heart for the blessings of the past.

All would fain have lingered longer round the lovely spot, but breakfast had to be disposed of, when the tents were struck and the wagons loaded, and we were off at seven o'clock. Soon after leaving camp we ascended the highest point yet seen in Texas, the view from which presented a grand panorama of hills clothed with verdure, and valleys garnished with rich foliage of varied hues, almost equal to a prospect from the tops of the Alleghanies. În descending this eminence, however, the poetry was extinguished by the breaking down of a wagon.

After a three hours' march, we rested a short time at the Quihi, a small stream about nine miles from the Medina. It is said to abound in fish, though our stop was not long enough to prove the fact.

Up to this point the country is rolling and the soil rich. On the north a range of hills has been visible since morning, which in its progress farther west takes the name of San Saba. Between the Quihi and the Alamos, a distance of four or five miles, the roadway is bordered by a species of sumach, though very little like the plant of that name found at the north. Its leaves are mixed with tobacco by the Indians, and are found to be agreeable for smoking: it thus forms an article of traffic.

A solitary house stands on the west bank of the Quihi, the pattern for a German settlement, where we were fortunate enough to procure a quarter of a pound of butter for the quid pro quo of the same fraction of a dollar, while others purchased a few eggs at the same liberal rate. The sellers were German women, who although unable to understand English, found no difficulty in apprehending our wants, through the medium of the universal interpreter-cash. From the Alamos to the Hondo, the distance is about seven miles: the country generally stony and broken. It abounds principally in Texas live oak, in other words, a scraggy, stunted, knotty, and crooked specimen of the quercus virens, which probably grows nowhere else, and even here is a cumberer of the earth.

The Hondo at present appears to have lost the character of a stream, and consists only of a series of basins formed in the limestone rock, evaporation and the current having probably broken the connection, though it is not impossible there may be a subterraneous channel. Some of the party have secured fish enough for supper, but the angler not being of my mess we are without perch. This evening we were enabled to enjoy a most delicious bath, in one of the marble basins, as it were, to which the Hondo here accommodates itself. The pool or fountain is bounded on one side by a rock rising almost perpendicularly to the height of twenty-five or thirty feet, while the other

is approached by a gentle slope, descending in the water to a depth of five feet. It is impossible to conceive any thing more delightfully arranged for the luxury of a bath. The water is a perfect transparency, revealing the pebbles of the bottom with the distinctness of day-light. The scenery on a small scale is surpassingly beautiful, and a succession of such spots, with a fertile and productive country around, might justify the erection of country seats and villas vying with those of the Delaware and the Hudson.

It is a received fact among prairie travellers and the inhabitants of Texas generally, and is therefore recorded for what it may be worth on such highly respectable authority, that a hair rope, stretched upon the ground so as to envelope the person, is a sovereign protection against snakes. This, it is said, may be demonstrated by placing a snake within a circle of rope, and then attempting to drive him over it. The result is, according to the testimony aforesaid, that as soon as his head touches the hair, he turns aside in disgust, and takes a new direction. This may or may not be a fiction; but even the incredulous are not unwilling to avail themselves of a doubtful truth, though the success of the experiment may depend entirely on faith. One of the party last evening proposed to appropriate to himself at once the advantages of this remarkable prairie discovery in physics and natural history, and accordingly after going to bed requested that he might be surrounded and protected from nocturnal invasion, by this magic girdle. On awaking the following morning he was somewhat surprised to find four uprights planted near his bed, from which the rope was suspended in a series of graceful festoons, the lowest point being a foot or two from the ground. The sleeper at any rate was not disturbed by snakes, and the success attending the experiment renders it not impossible that the hair may be just as effectual above the ground as upon it. Of course the rope was hung by an Irishman.

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