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umn, with the wagon-train, was nearly two miles in length. On arriving near the National Bridge, he found it obstructed and defended, in the same manner as on the passage of the river by General Cadwalader; but he was unable to place his artillery in a commanding position, and orders were therefore given to charge upon the enemy. Lieutenant Colonel Bonham, of the 12th infantry, at the head of his battalion, rushed forward under a heavy fire from the enemy's escopetas, followed by Captain Duperu, with his company of the 3rd dragoons, sword in hand. The men leaped over the barricade upon the bridge, and in the space of ten minutes the guerilleros were flying in every direction. The command proceeded to the Rio del Plan, where they discovered that the main arch of the bridge had been blown up. Having crossed the river, General Pierce continued on his way to join General Scott. He was five times attacked by the guerilleros, including the rencontre at the Puente Nacional, but repulsed them on every occasion.

On the approach of General Pierce with his reinforcement, General P. F. Smith was sent out from Puebla to clear the road in front of the former, said to be obstructed by the enemy, with a considerable detachment. He succeeded in breaking up a large guerilla establishment at San Juan de los Llaños. General Pierce found the way opened before him, and arrived at Puebla on the 6th of August. General Scott had already issued his orders for the advance to the Mexican capital; and on the 7th instant General Twiggs' division, preceded by the brigade of cavalry under Colonel Harney, took up the line of march for the far-famed halls of the Montezumas. The divisions of Generals Quitman, Worth, and Pillow, followed, at intervals of one

304

FORCE OF GENERAL SCOTT.

day.* Colonel Childs remained at Puebla, as civil and military governor, with a garrison of about 1,400 men, consisting of detachments from different regiments.

The total rank and file of the army which marched to the capital under General Scott, was 10,738. The cavalry brigade under Colonel Harney, consisted of detachments of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd dragoons, commanded respectively by Captain Kearny, Major Sumner, and Lieutenant Colonel Moore, and a volunteer company in command of Captain McKinstry of the quartermaster's department. The first division was commanded by General Worth; the first brigade, under Colonel Garland, consisting of Lieutenant Colonel Duncan's light battery, the 2nd artillery, Major Galt, 3rd artillery, Lieutenant Colonel Belton, and 4th infantry, Major Lee; and the second brigade, under Colonel Clarke, consisting of the 5th infantry, Colonel McIntosh, 6th infantry, Major Bonneville, and 8th infantry, Major Waite. The siege train, under Captain Huger of the ordnance, was attached to Worth's division. The second division was commanded by General Twiggs; the first brigade, under General P. F. Smith, consisting of the rifle regiment, Major Loring, the 1st artillery, Major Dimmick, 3rd infantry, Captain Alexander, and Captain Taylor's light battery; and the second brigade, under Col onel Riley, consisting of the 4th artillery, Major Gardner, 2nd infantry, Captain Morris, and 7th infantry, Lieutenant Colonel Plympton. The company of sappers and miners, under Lieutenant G. W. Smith, was attached to Twiggs' division. The third division was commanded by General Pillow; the first brigade, under General Pierce, consisting of the 9th infantry, Colonel Ransom, 12th infantry, Lieutenant Colonel Bonham, and 15th infantry, Colonel Morgan; and the second brigade, ander General Cadwalader, consisting of the voltigeuers, with the mountain howitzer and rocket battery, Colonel Andrews, 11th infantry, Lieutenant Colonel Graham, and 14th infantry, Colonel Trousdale. Capain Magruder's light battery was also attached to this division. The fourth division was commanded by General Quitman, and consisted of the South Carolina regiment, Colonel Butler, and the New York volunteers, Colonel Burnett, forming the brigade of General Shields, with the 2nd Pennsylvania, Colonel Roberts, the battalion of marines, Lieuenant Colonel Watson, and Captain Steptoe's battery.

CHAPTER X.

DONIPHAN'S MARCH.

The Missouri Volunteers-Expedition against the Navajos-Orders to join General Wool-La Jornada del Muerto-Skirmish at BracitoEl Paso del Norte-Fortifications of the Enemy at the Pass of Sacramento-The Battle-Flight of the Mexicans-Entrance into the City of Chihuahua-March to Monterey-Return Home.

WHILE the more important military operations which have been narrated, were being carried on in other quarters of the country, there occurred, in northern Mexico, one of those extraordinary achievements which are rarely undertaken, and which, when accomplished, always challenge admiration. A mere handful of men, -a volunteer force less than one thousand strongcommanded by a bold, fearless, and energetic officer, performed an arduous and fatiguing march of many thousand miles, through a hostile country, chastising or awing the savage tribes which infested their route into submission; encountering the enemy, in superior numhers, on two several occasions, and routing them with the utmost ease and facility. All this was done with comparatively little loss; and when the term of their enlistments expired, these soldiers returned to their distant homes, leaving behind them but very few of their comrades who had been overtaken by sickness, or fallen in battle, or

306

EXPEDITION AGAINST THE NAVAJOS.

Among the pledges and assurances given by General Kearny to the inhabitants of New Mexico, in order to render them better satisfied with the new form of government which he established, prior to his departure for California in the fall of 1846, was a guarantee of protection against the Indians in their vicinity. The Apaches, as we have seen, were temporarily quieted; and while on his way to the Pacific coast, the general issued an order at La Joya, in October, requiring Colonel Doniphan, of the first Missouri mounted volunteers, then at Santa Fé, but previously instructed to report to General Wool at Chihuahua, to make a campaign with his regiment into the country inhabited by the Navajo Indians. This was one of the fiercest and most implacable tribes west of the Mississippi, occupying the greater part of the territory between the waters of the Rio Grande and those of the Rio Colorado of the West, and its warriors had long been "the terror and scourge" of the northern provinces of Mexico.

Colonel Doniphan left Santa Fé on the 26th of October, and having divided his command into separate detachments, invaded the Navajo country by three routes. This expedition was attempted late in the season, and was not brought to a close until the troops had suffered severely from the intense cold of winter. Their daily march was through drifts of snow which blocked up the valleys, and across mountains covered with ice Every portion of the Indian territory was visited, and near three-fourths of the tribe, though almost entire strangers to the American name, were collected at the Ojo Oso, where a permanent treaty was made with them. The object of the expedition being attained, Colonel Doniphan returned to the Rio Grande, near Socorro, on the 12th of December. He then crossed

MARCH TO JOIN GENERAL WOOL.

307

over to Valvervede, and on the 14th instant, in obedience to the order directing him to report to General Wool, then supposed to be at Chihuahua, the advance, under Major Gilpin, took up the line of march down the left bank of the river. Lieutenant Colonel Jackson followed on the 16th, with another detachment. While Colonel Doniphan was engaged in bringing the Navajos to terms, Colonel Price, of the 2nd Missouri regiment, the commanding officer at Santa Fé, dispatched Lieutenant Colonel Mitchell, with an escort of 95 men, selected from his regiment, and from the battalion of Missouri volunteer artillery, under Major Clark, to open a communication with General Wool. The detachment left Santa Fé on the 1st of December, and came up with Colonel Doniphan at Valvervede, on the 17th instant. On the following day they proceeded in company with him, and the remainder of the 1st Missouri, upon the route previously taken by the other portions of his command. Before leaving Valvervede, Colonel Doniphan was informed that the Mexicans were collecting a force at El Paso del Norte, to intercept his march, and an order was therefore sent to Major Clark, of the artillery battalion at Santa Fé, to join him at the earliest moment with 100 men, and a battery of four six-pounders, and two twelve-pounder howitzers.*

A few miles south of Fra Christóbal, the road to Chihuahua, instead of following the windings of the river, pursues a direct course from one bend to another, over a dry plain between seventy and eighty miles in length, completely destitute of water, except immediately after

Colonel Doniphan's force numbered 856 effective men, all armed with rifles; but, at this time, he had no artillery. The twelve-pounder howitzers ordered from Santa Fé were constructed expressly for field prairie service.