APPENDIX.

THE HISTORICAL EVENTS OF THE WAR.

"Lastly, stood War, in glittering arms yclad,

With visage grim, stern look, and blackly hued;

In his right hand a naked sword he had,
That to the hilt was all with blood imbrued;
And in his left (that kings and kingdoms rued)
Famine and fire he held, and therewithal

He razed towers, and threw down towers and all.

"Cities he sacked, and realms (that whilom flowered
In honor, glory, and rule above the rest)
He overwhelmed, and all their fame devoured,
Consumed, destroyed, wasted; and never ceased
Till he their wealth, their name and all oppressed.
His face forehewed with wounds; and by his side
There hung his targe, with gashes deep and wide."

THOMAS SACKVILLE.

ALL honor to the hearty old English Poet, who dared thus, in a warlike age, to unveil the hideous idol men worshipped, under the self-contradictory terms of military glory. He represents the god as no young and knightly cavalier, riding forth, splendidly arrayed, at the sound of martial music, to do the feats of chivalry, and redress the wrongs of the injured. Far truer is his personification. The figure of his brain, moulded in a feeling heart, was that of a grim and ghastly giant, bringing up the rear of the procession of Remorse, Dread, Revenge, Misery, Care, Malady, Famine, and Death; his face dark and stern, and scarred with wounds; his hands filled with the awful besoms of destruction, fire, and hunger, and the sword; his rent and battered shield hanging at his side; and his path marked with burning cities, desolated countries, falling realms, haggard want, and ruin and

oblivion. He thus wrote, in the words of Poetry, the solemn truth of History. Would to heaven that all his brethren of the immortal art had been equally faithful!

In recording a brief sketch of the events of the Mexican War, for the purpose of reference, we shall paint no battle-scenes, and utter no eulogies. Enough of them may be found in other quarters, to satisfy the most morbid appetite. The letter-writer, the biographer, the politician, the historian, and the rhymster, have vied with one another, in giving illuminated editions of its fearful tales. The artist has painted the features of its heroes, and the panoramas of its marches and battles. The engraver has traced on wood, and stone, and steel, the deadly charge, the smoke of musketry and artillery, and the dead and dying stretched upon the bloody earth, with the Star-spangled Banner leading on its hosts to victory. Dazzled with the false show, and excited with the intoxication of a momentary triumph, men thus fail to see war as it is, in all its heart-rending realities and its lasting results. It is a mere gorgeous vision, a passing dream of glory to them. They do not look down into its abysses of pains and agonies; its awful Aceldama of groans, and tears, and death. We desire, by no word of ours, to invest these scenes with aught but their own proper character. We would simply narrate coldly, and it may be tamely, the bare facts.

The Mexican War dates virtually, though not actually, from the 3d of March, 1845, when, by a Joint Resolution, which was passed by both branches of Congress-in the House of Representatives, by a vote of 120 to 98; and in the Senate, of 27 to 25- - and which was on that day, the last of his administration, signed by the President, John Tyler, Texas was annexed to the American Union.

The Mexican Minister, Almonte, immediately demanded his passports, and left the country; declaring the act of annexation to be an act of hostility to Mexico. Distinguished statesmen of the United States also took the same view of the subject.

But Mexico was poor, distracted, and revolutionary, and she had no means to vindicate what she regarded as her violated honor. The act of war did not follow. She contented herself with protesting.

The United States, however, were not idle. In August, 1845,* Gen. Taylor was despatched, with a regular body of troops, drawn from different posts, first as an army of "Observation," then of "Occupa tion," to the town of Corpus Christi.

*30th Congress, 1st Session, House of Representatives, Ex. Doc. 60, p. 101.

But on the 13th of January, 1846, Mr. Marcy, Secretary of War of the United States, wrote to Gen. Taylor, as follows: * "I am directed, by the President, to instruct you to advance and occupy, with the troops under your command, positions on or near the east bank of the Rio del Norte, as soon as it can be conveniently done.

It is not designed, in our present relations with Mexico, that you. should treat her as an enemy; but should she assume that character, by a declaration of war, or any open act of hostility towards us, you will not act merely on the defensive." Gen. Taylor obeyed orders. He received the letter early in February, and, on the 11th of March, he commenced his march from Corpus Christi for the Rio Grande, one hundred and fifty miles distant, across a desert, or rolling prairie. On the 20th of the same month he was met, at the river Colorado, by the Mexicans, whose commanding officer, Gen. Mejia, announced, that if the American forces should cross that river, it would be considered as a declaration of war, and actual hostilities would ensue. But the warning was disregarded, and the troops pursued their way, and arrived on the banks of the Rio Grande without any serious molestation. Repeated remonstrances were made by the authorities, both civil and military, to the American commander, against the occupation of what they regarded as a part of the Mexican province of Tamaulipas. They declared the alternative of his withdrawal to the Nueces or war. But Taylor remained, and erected Fort Brown, on the left bank of the Rio Grande, commanding the city of Matamoras on the other side. Several skirmishes took place between parties of the two nations, in which lives were lost. Fort Brown, and a small force left to keep possession of it, were bombarded, during the absence of the commander-in-chief and his main army, to obtain his military stores, which had been landed at Point Isabel; but the Americans maintained their position, though summoned to surrender.

On his return from Point Isabel, Gen. Taylor was met by the Mexican army, under the command of Gen. Arista, at a point on the prairies, a few miles from the Rio Grande, called Palo Alto, which is distinguished, as giving a name to the first battle of the war. The contest occurred on the 8th of May, 1846, commencing at about two o'clock, P. M.; and was sustained during five hours, when the Mexicans were defeated, with great loss in killed and wounded. The

*30th Congress, 1st Session, House of Representatives, Ex. Doc. 60, pp. 90, 91. Also, for the war-despatches in general, see 30th Congress, 1st Session, House of Representatives, Ex. Doc. 60. Senate, Ex. Doc. 1. 30th Congress, 2d Session, House of Representatives, Ex. Doc. 1.

† 30th Congress, 1st Session, House of Representatives, Ex. Doc. 60, pp. 145, 146.

Americans numbered 2,300, according to the report of their general; while he says "the strength of the enemy is believed to have been about 6,000 men."

On the following day, May 9th, Gen. Taylor advanced two or three miles along the road through the chapparal, towards the Rio Grande, when he found the enemy in position for battle, at a ravine called Resaca de la Palma. The action commenced about four o'clock in the afternoon, and lasted one hour and a half; when the Mexicans, under the command of Arista, were entirely routed and pursued to the river, in which multitudes were drowned, in attempting to cross to Mata

moras.

The immediate result of these victories was the capture, without resistance, of the city of Matamoras, and the opening of the whole Valley of the Rio Grande to the American arms. The forces of the enemy were dispersed, and, to use the military phrase, demoralized. The reverses of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma had sent dismay through the country. In the course of the summer Gen. Taylor occupied, without any difficulty, the towns of Reynosa, Camargo, Mier, and Ceralvo, and advanced upon Monterey.

In the meantime, advices had been received at Washington of the critical situation of Gen. Taylor, about the 1st of May; and the President, in a Message to Congress, dated the 11th of that month, used the following language: * "But now, after reiterated menaces, Mexico has passed the boundary of the United States, has invaded our territory, and shed American blood upon American soil. She has proclaimed that hostilities have commenced, and that the two nations are now at war."

"As war exists, and, notwithstanding our efforts to avoid it, exists by the act of Mexico herself, we are called upon, by every consideration of duty and patriotism, to vindicate, with decision, the honor, the rights and the interests of our country."

On the same day, a bill passed the House of Representatives, 174 to 14, and, on the subsequent one, was enacted by the Senate, 42 to 2, declaring, that, "by the acts of the Republic of Mexico, a state of war exists between the United States and that republic;" placing ten milhons of dollars at the disposal of the President; and authorizing him to employ the land and naval forces of the United States, and to accept the services of volunteers, to a number not exceeding 50,000, in

30th Congress, 1st Session, House of Representatives, Ex. Doc. 60, pp. 8, 9.

prosecuting the war. On the 13th of May, 1846, a Proclamation of War was issued by the highest executive authority.

A warlike enthusiasm ran, like wild-fire, over the Western, SouthWestern, and Southern sections of the country, and, in many instances, the number of volunteers, said to be 300,000 in all, was far greater than could be mustered into service, according to the general appropriation of the respective States.* The Great Valley resounded with the din of preparation. Fathers and sons enlisted. Some of more than the allotted age of man, seized the musket. More than one of the ministers of the Prince of Peace caught the dangerous contagion. The latent passions of the heart took fire, like tinder, at the cry of war.

In such popular excitements men do not reason, they only feel, and, feeling, act. Thus impelled, they may do the noblest deeds; they may also perpetrate the most wicked crimes, and set in motion the most irretrievable calamities. The call to arms is the occasion, of all others, when human beings seem to lay aside the more manly and Christian attributes of character, and put on those of the beast of prey, or worse. But it is necessary also to admit, that a leaven of well-intentioned, though often mistaken patriotism, mingles with the dark mass of animal and demoniac passions. A wild love of adventure, without reference to the innocence or guilt of the objects to which it is directed, also carries away the settlers in a new state of society, as with a flood. Add some anticipations of booty; some old grudges of Santa Fé, and other border traders; some Texan vengeance, for the massacres of Goliad and the Alamo; some ideas of Anglo-Saxon destiny; some hope of distinction, and desire of bettering perhaps desperate fortunes; and we have glimpses of the more prominent elements that moulded thousands to one purpose, and precipitated them upon a second " conquest of Mexico."

The means, however, of transporting the troops to the theatre of action, were not sufficient to enable the American commander to

advance rapidly into the enemy's country. About 9,000 men only were under the command of Gen. Taylor, in the beginning of June; and he assaulted Monterey, the capital of Nuevo Leon, about three hundred and forty miles from Matamoras, with less than 7,000. On the 19th of September, 1846, he appeared before that city, and invested it. Active operations were carried on during Sunday, the 20th, 21st, 22d, and 23d; and on the 24th, the Mexican commander, Gen. Ampudia, surrendered.

*Young's History of Mexico, p. 380.