30 CAUSES AND COMMENCEMENT and fashioned them into sand-bags, which were placed so as to receive the enemy's fire. The siege had continued several days, the Americans had as yet lost but one man, who, strange to say, had first been wounded badly, and placed for safety in a casemate, when a shot striking him upon the head instantly killed him! "On the morning of the 8th of May, 1846, the Mexican scouts reported the advance of the forces under Taylor, accompanied by a heavy train of wagons, loaded with supplies. Upon the reception of this intelligence Arista marched toward the coast, leaving his second in command, Don Pedro Ampudia, in charge of the detachment which had been ordered to keep the garrison from attempting a junction with the main body. At one o'clock, P. M., Arista arrived near the water-hole of Palo Alto, and formed his line of battle in an extensive plain, with his right wing resting upon a woody elevation; his left was supported by a quagmire, very difficult of penetration. The cavalry, which composed one-third of his army, was placed upon the flanks of the line thus strongly posted. Twelve pieces of ordnance occupied the intervals between the cavalry and infantry. General Taylor's first impulse, when he heard the cannonading at the fort, was to retrace his steps without delay; but as the guns of the besieged continued to be heard in answer to those of the assailants, he relied with confidence upon the gallantry of the former, and resolved to complete his preparations. In order, however, to obtain some definite information of the actual condition of the party in charge of the works, he dispatched Captain Walker of the Texan Rangers up the river for that purpose. Walker returned on the 5th, and reported that there was scarcely a probability of the Mexicans being able to reduce the fort; stating at the same time that the country between the two places was alive with the enemy's cavalry, through which he and his men had with difficulty made their way unobserved. The gallant conduct of this officer contributed in no slight degree to relieve the feelings of the different divisions, as it destroyed that sickening un certainty which is common to those engaged in operations at a distance from one another. "On the evening of the 7th, the American commander took up the line of march for his former camp, at the head of two thousand three hundred men, cavalry, infantry, and artillery; the army was encumbered with a heavy train of wagons, which somewhat retarded its progress. That night Taylor bivouacked seven miles from Point Isabel, and on the following morning resumed his march. About the hour of noon, on the memorable 8th, the advance squadrons of horse which had been thrown forward reached the Palo Alto, and discovered the enemy drawn up in battle array upon the prairie, three quarters of a mile distant. In a short time the main body came up, and the General ordered a halt, that the men might refresh themselves at the pool. After resting an hour or so, the American commander proceeded deliberately to form his line of battle as follows, commencing on the right wing: "Fifth infantry, Colonel McIntosh; Ringgold's artillery; third infantry, Captain Morris; two eighteen pounders, Lieutenant Churchill; fourth infantry, Major Allen; two squadrons of dragoons under Captains Ker and May. The left wing was formed of a battalion of artillery, Colonel Childs; Captain Duncan's light artillery; and the eighth infantry, Captain Montgomery. Colonel Twiggs commanded the right, and Lieutenant Colonel Belknap the left of the line." The train was packed in the rear, protected by a sufficient guard. "At two o'clock the order was given to move forward, the several corps advancing steadily by heads of columns, the eighteen pounders keeping the road. Lieutenant Blake, of the topographical engineers, having performed a skillful reconnoissance of the hostile line, now reported the position of the enemy's batteries. As the columns came up the Mexican cannon opened upon them a deafening but harmless fire.t • General Taylor's Dispatches, May 15th, 1846. + General Ampudia arrived upon the scene at this moment, and behaved well duing the day. 32 CAUSES AND COMMENCEMENT "Halting his divisions, Taylor ordered them to deploy into line, an evolution which they performed with as much coolness as if they had been upon parade; throwing back the 8th infantry to secure his left flank, the General placed the light battery in advance; the word was then given to return the adversaries' fire; it was promptly obeyed; the eighteen pounders, and Ringgold's admirable corps of flying artillery, poured forth a deadly stream of shot, which soon forced the cavalry on Arista's left to fall back. "At this moment Duncan's battery, supported by May's dragoons, was doing equal damage on the right flank. In order to prevent the destruction of his army, Arista determined to make an effort to silence the fatal engines which were so rapidly vomiting death into his ranks. The greater part of the Mexican cavalry had been posted upon their left; they were mostly lancers, and were commanded by General Anastasio Torrejon, the officer who had captured Thornton's party during the preceding month. While the American ordance was sweeping down his files, Arista ordered Torrejon to charge upon Taylor's right, while he in person pro posed to advance with the rest of his lancers and the main body of his infantry, upon his left flank. Torrejon, supported by two field-pieces, attempted to obey the order, but was met and repulsed by the 5th infantry, Walker's volunteers, and a section of flying artillery under Lieutenant Ridgely, which raked the lancers as they retired, after this bold, but unsuccessful movement.-The General, anticipating a renewal of the attack, now strengthened that part of his line with the 3d infantry. The long grass of the prairie was at this crisis accidentally set on fire, which being as dry as powder, blazed up fiercely, and for the space of an hour the combatants were partially hidden from each other by the dense volumes of smoke, which hung like a curtain between them, for the time at least preventing the work of death. Advancing under cover of the smoke, the American. forces now occupied the position lately held by the lancers near the quagmire. When the enemy's line again became visible, the contest was resumed with increased ardor, the eighteen pounders, flying artillery, and light battery, making fearful havoc through the ranks of the Mexicans, whose intrepid bearing was the theme of universal admiration' among those who witnessed their gallant behavior. The blood of both armies had now become heated; volley followed volley in rapid succession; the air was filled with musket balls, round shot, grape, and canister. May's squadron being ordered to make a demonstration upon the enemy's flank, was driven back with loss upon the main body. Maddened with pain and excitement, the Mexican soldiery called out to their General either to advance or retreat, so that the battle might be lost or won, and not prolonged until the artillery had entirely destroyed them.* Arista, in the hope of quieting the impatience of his men, who were leaving their ranks, sent forward a division of lancers, under Colonel Cayetano Montero, to attack the right wing, from whence issued the most destructive fire. The cavalry were met by a battalion of artillery, which, forming in square, received them with the bayonet; at the same moment the eighteen pounders opened a deadly discharge of canister, which forced the former to retire in disorder beyond the reach of the cannon. Their retreat was covered by a sharp fire of musketry from the Mexican lines; a few rounds from the ordnance soon silenced even this feeble effort upon the part of Arista to maintain his position. The Mexicans were driven back in the same manner upon their right by the 8th infantry, Ker's dragoons, and Duncan's artillery. The shadows of night were now gathering upon the field, the roar of the battle, the fierce shouts, and the clash of arms gradually ceased; and as the stars came forth and mingled their radiance with the light of the waning moon, the groans of the wounded and dying were borne upon the wind, and filled the air with mournful sounds. "The enemy driven from his position, had retired a short distance to the rear, and occupied the chapparal with his shattered battalions, having lost in killed, wounded, and missing, five hundred men. The American force actually Arista's Dispatch to Tornel, May the 8th, 11 P. M., 1846. 34 CAUSES AND COMMENCEMENT engaged during the day, was two thousand two hundred and eighty-eight men, who lost nine killed, fifty-four wounded, and two missing. Among those mortally wounded was Major Ringgold, one of the bravest and most meritorious officers in the service. The number of shot thrown during the day, according to Arista's account, from the American cannon, was over three thousand, while the Mexicans fired but six hundred and fifty rounds from their twelve pieces used in the action. "The weary soldiers, exhausted with their bloody work, bivouacked upon the field, and throwing themselves on the ground, reposed upon their arms until morning, lulled to sleep by the melancholy howl of troops of wolves, which scenting the carnage afar off, approached the fatal spot. "From camp to camp, through the foul womb of night The secret whispers of each other's watch; Fire answers fire; and through their paly flames Each battle sees the other's umber'd face; Steed threatens steed in high and boastful neigh, "At the dawn of day on the following morning, the Mexican army was descried retreating through the wood toward the Del Norte, following the road to Matamoras. Sending his wounded back to Point Isabel, and leaving a detachment, with four pieces of artillery, to guard the supply train at Palo Alto, the commander-in-chief ordered his columns to advance in pursuit of the enemy; at the same time throwing forward a strong party, with instructions to explore the chapparal and ascertain the position of the Mexican force. At three in the afternoon, Taylor received information that Arista was posted directly in front, on the road, which was intersected at that point by a ravine, which was skirted by dense thickets of undergrowth. The flying artillery, under Lieutenant Ridgely, advanced up the road, covered by several regiments of infantry, which were extended into the woods upon the right and left flanks; the cavalry was held in re |