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Muibury, IVorfhiuiibci-laml Co. Pa. Saturday, Feb. '2 I , mi l.
Vol. 4 Xo. a Whole Xo, n.
it.iuis or thu " ami:iiicix."
frIIOllT 1'ATKXT SIUOIOX.
nv 1MHV, JR.
Ti:r: "I'M not thy gi.tani."
My hearers fortitude, patience, nml perse
verance are. the only loam horses capable of
dragging the lumbering enr of man's liopcs;
through the marsh of misfortune. Fretting,
flinching, ctir.-inir, or swearing can no more ex
tricate ono from (Hl'i'-n'.ty than a silly shad ran
' . i
l,y "" !
release itself from tlio fisherman's in
flapping and floundering. When a man finds
himself in tin; midst of thorns and briars of tron
b'o, the only way f.r him is to step cautiously
and feel his road thro' them with ihe utmost
care; but if be fret, fluster and Muster, In: i
pure to I'lJ'eet nothing morn than 1 icerate h's
bosom an I tear hi.; trousers.. When he perceives
that his feelings are beginning to ferment,
through irritation, he oii',rht to keep a small sir
hole open to bis heart, not only to admit the
pure oxygin of reus-on, but also to allow ill" gas
of excileiiient tn escap by degrees else he
might burst bis barrel of forbearance, and lose
iua tiionient some of tiro sweetest uud besi of
life"? cider.
M .. r : i . ...i 1. l r i. r
. ' ' ' " ;
iicipaiiou are swopi a'viy uy me sionus 01 in
fortune, there is no more use in frettinjr vour
gizzards nb out it th-.n there is in a young fe
male victim nt seduction trying to stick the
liarrnients of virtue together with tears of" re
pentance. To fret Mel chafe about trifles, like
n tender school buy when fir-t initiated into the
inisteries ol aflin.iol shirt, is as nonsens enl as
it is useless. Maintain your ground manfully
airainst the assan'ls of petty ills, and ill due
'hue you wi'i not heed them half a-- much as llie
lmy.z of an t 'ciober uinsq'.iito ; otherwise you
wi'l prol.iably learn by experience that there is
M.cnau.msr ns nimnn-a punpie uti you pro- .
hiee nn ulcer. In the hour ot a ler.-ity, for i
t, , , , . ,i I. . '
ussi-timce call open ! ortilmle that bold iivmpb !
it' the rock. whos, ibmntles spiiit bears the
. .
ii-ating storm, and bitter winds that howl a
oimd her whose breast bravis the bursting
vaves, and w Im bears the dread thunder with a
mil as unshaken ns a carpet in a lawyer's office.
es my friends, instead ot fretting your gi-;
aros w hen n t'oi.nig eloitil skirts the licrizon ot
vur hopes, y i i mmht to have philosophy about 1
Vou siifficienl to know that, although the cominu I
t-hower tuny w et your jackets, it renders Ihe
.. i lit (YiiiMul, inn! lioiihtii'ully eontr, botes to
your wants nnd oecessities. Satan himself,
when he was kicked out of heaven into the re- !
gioiisof darkness and woo, was too much of a
man to whine, nnd fret ut his liite. lie bore it
like a hero, and consoled himself w ith the re
flection, lint it were "better to rei'u ill hell
than to serve in heaven." Exercise patience,
nnd the thick mists of mi.-loi tune that bedim
your future prospects will disperse the sooner :
push ahead with per-ev el ance, unmindful of
trill. ng iiiinoy inc.es, and every bud in your bo
soisisthat thioatens t-j ihsclosi; a thistle, v.iil
bloo n a ro-e ; b it this worrying .-ni l fretting
hen i 'ircuuftanccs cla-'i witli one's limd de-s-ires,
is like binshiii'j a beavi r nguiust tin: l ap
the more you attempt to siuoulh it the rough
er it prows.
My dear friends I am ulino.-t induced to be
lieve th it some people, instead of being sup
plied with hearts, have nothing but gizzaii!.
lilled with t'rit and gravid. They appear to
have just dined upon pebbles anil iron filings,
oud always laboring under the influence ot in
digestion. Nothing jjoes right with them
every thing is wrong. The milk of mercy sours
upon their stomachs they turn up their lio.-cs
nt the sweets of Fiilvntion they spit in the
hand of charity spurn friendly solicitude and
care no mere tor soil toap or sympathy than n
dog does for a dollar. All they w 'Mi is to h-
allowed Ihe pri i'ege of fretting undisturbed by
friend or foi unchecked by four, and lliisway-
ed by favor. They fret fi-r fear the morrow
may not be brighter than golden to-day: tiny
Vet because others are cheerful ami contented
. ith their lots : and they oftentimes fret merely
lecause liii-y can find nothiirg of importance lo
tret about. Let tie'iii go on frct'ing till they
have arrived t th" end of life's journey, and I
Mil inclined to think they will eventually find
that I hey hive fretted to no purpose. There
is no doubt but they would find faul'. with the
r.rrangeuieiils of heav en, w ere they ullowed to
cuter, and thus go on fretting from everlasting
to everlasting. As lor me, 1 put up with tho
beatings and tumblings of this mortal existence
:is quietly as a feather bed ; and I trust that
most of you. my worthy hearers, are blest with
the same happy disposition.
Young man ! if you find on occasional
bramble of disappointment in the blossom-fringed
path of youth, "fret not thy gizzard" for,
whatever is, is undoubtedly for the beat. If
your parents endeavor to restrain you from
piddling in the putrid pools of iniquity, or for
bid you travelling the road that leads to rum
simps and nun, "irei not my giz.uru. ii
you discover thorns nmidtt the roses of love
a few bitter dregs at the bit loin of pleasure'
ij -rk:..-ij uiji : ii tiic bcan ot manhood bring.
. . . ., it lil
with it irritating solicitude nml nnxicty, and i over j mid in duo tiinn, mid without any incident
timo tumbles a cart load of cares nt yoitrdoor, I worthy of note, readied the appointed place of
"fret not thy gizzard :" for all your grumbling 1 rendezvous, which wns on the river Satudo, a
will have no more ell'ret than petitioning Con- hoot fifteen miles from San Anlonio, the pro
gress to Inve ctcrn.ty widened. Look, my ' ripal city ol the province. This latter place it
friend., upon the bright sidu of everything, mid ; was intended to attack nn enterprise ol some
fancy that you are happy, whether you arc re- hold ne.'R and risk, ennsidcrii g tl lit the town
ally so or not. When the hatchel teeth of was protected by n strong (iirt, amply provided
trouble encompass the heart, keep as quiet as with heavy artillery, rtnd n gnrrison of nearly
circumstances will permit ; f.r, the more vou
.,.r;,i. .,., .1. ,
writh and twist, the niorcsharply you are prick- :
; ed. Always try to keep the lamp of hope ndvosin the rev;ilutionnry wars against the
i burning in the dark dungeons of your bosoms, I Spaniards. Our whole army which wc found
and Ihe demons of doubt will never bniint them. encamped on the Salndo, under the command
! Face every ill with the boldness of n lion ' oftieneral Aui-tiii did not exceed eight hun
. bear up with christian fortitude beneath the ' dred men.
heavy burden of a miction be tnereilu), kind The day after that on which Funning and
; and benevolent 1o your fellow creatures, and myself, with our four and-tliirty recruits, roach-
angels of light and lovliness will volunteer to ' cd head-quarters a council or war was far-It 1,
act r yoer p;oneer. tliroui.li the untraeked and ni"' it Wi,s resolved to advance as fur as the
unbounded wilderness of the future. No mote niis.-ion of Santa Kspada. The advanced guard
it be. ', was to push liirward immediately; the main
ADTKM't'llKS IX Tf.SAS,
i.m: ok rA.vMNos nTi i.rs. ;
I had been but three or four months in Texas
when, in consequence of the oppressive con-
( duct of th Mexican military authorities, syrup-
turns of d scontent showed theiuse!vi!S, and
several skirmishes occurred between the Ame- ,
lican sittlers and the soldiery. The two small i
forts of Velasco and Nacogdoches were tiikcn
by the former, and their "iirrisons and a ceuple
of li dd officers made prisoners; soon after
which, However, rue quarrel was ni.-.iie up ny
i i i . i , ,
tho intervention of Colonel Austin on the part
of Texas, and Col. Mjia on the part ofthe
Mexican authorities.
llut in the year "M occurred Snota Anna's
defection from the. liberal party, find the iin- '
primnmetil of Stephen F. Austin, the Texian
representative in the Mexican Congress, by
1 '
the vice-nresident . Conn i. Farias. ' This was
lollowedby Texas adoptmg the const Hutmn of t,I the general enme up. or advancing at once
1-Jt,and declaring' its.dfnn independent stale ((lWnr(, , nvor Wharton inclined to the lor
oftho Mexican IJepub'.ic. Finally, towards mer tdan. and it was certainlv the most nrud. nt.
the close of lSTi, Texas threw off the Mexican
yoke altogether, voted itself a free and sovcr-
, ign republic, and prepared to delei.d by arms
its newly asserted liberty.
The first step to be taken was, to secure our
comniunicnt ions with the United States by get
1111? possession of the sea-ports. (leneral Cos
had occupied (iilveston harbor, and built and
garrisoned n block fort, nominally for the pur- !
pose of enforcing the custom lsws, but in reali
ty with a view to cut off our communications
with New Orleans and the Slates. This fort
it was necessary to get p-issessi.ui of, nnd my
friend Fanning and myself were appointed to
that duty by the Alcalde, who hml taken n pro
minent part in nil that had occurred.
Our whole force anil equipment wherewith
to accomplish this enterprise, consisted in a
sealed despatch, to be opened nt the town of
Columbia, and a half breed, named Agosiino,
who acted as our guide. On reaching Colum
bia, wc called together the principal inhabi
tants of the place, and of the neighboring
towns of Holivar and Marion, unsealed the let
ter iu their presence, and six liners atferwards
the forces therein specified were assembled,
and we were on oiir way toward (1 ilveston.
The nc't day the fort was taken, nnd the garri
son made prisoners, without our losing a single
man.
We sent off our uide to the government at
San Felipe Willi news of our success. In nine
days he returned, bringing ns the thanks of
congress, ami fresh orders. Wo were to leave
u garrison in the fort, and then ascend Trinity
river, and march towards San Antonio J)e Bex-
nr. This route w as nil the moro ngieeahle to
Fanning and myself, us it v.uiild bring us into
the immediate vicinity ofthe liarinnlns, or cs-
t ,ti s, of w hich we had sometime previously
obtained a grant from the Texan government;
md we did pot doubt that we were indebted
to our friend the Alcalde for the orders which
thus conciliated our private convenience witli
our public duty.
As we marched along we found the whole
country in colon. otioii, the settl rs all tinning,
and hastening to the distant place of reudi i
vius. We arrived at Trinity tiver one ul'ier-
noon, ne.d immediately sent iiies-eiigi'r lor
fnv uulej in all directions to summon the in-
habitants. At the period in question, the plan-
; tations in that part ofthe country wcro very
'; fw anj flir between, but nevertheless by the
j afternoon of the next day we had got together
j fonr-nnd-thirty men, mounted on mustangs,
I cl,,., ,,q,iipped with rifle and bow ie-knife, pow-
dor horn and bullet bag, nnd furnished with
provisions for several days. With these we
started tor San Antonio de Bexar, n march of
two hundred und fifty miles, through trackless
prairies intersected with mors, and streams, ! verthelcts the evening and the night passed a
which, although not quite eo big us the Missis- j way without incident. Day broke null no
sippi or l'otomac, wero yet deep and wide e-
nougn 10 uavo ouereu benous iiiipeuiuieiii 10
! regular armieu. Hut to Texan fanners and
' backwoods-men, they were tritlmg o'jstatlus.
Tiio--c wc could not wauv; tluoujjli w twain
i . .rt I : ! i- . .
three thousand ni"n, commanded by officers
i. ..i J:.:...-., .... ...
who had, for the most part, distinguished them
body would lollow the next day. Fanning and
myself were appointed to the command of the
vanguard, in conjunction with Mr. Wharton, a
wealthy planter, who had br -night a strong par-
ty of volunteers with him, and whose inuluri
ae and cool judgment, it was thought, would
counterbalance any excess rf youthful heat
and inipetno--jty on our part. Selecting nitu ty
two men of the risrht hundred, who, ton man,
volunteered to accompany us, we set out for the
mi-sion.
I delayed the advai:r e of the M exic u s, hut pr-r-ion
nren sort ol picket houses or ; huos e ven totally il'sen-tid them of their nt-
These
...
outposts of the t itholic church, and are found
in great numbers in nil the frontier provinces of
Spanish America, especially in Texts, Santa
l'e, and Cohahulia. They are usually of sntli-
cieot streueth to all'ord their inmates ecru r it y
iwaitis-t nov nredatorv onrlw ,f liuli.n.s ,,r ,,i!,..r
oinrauders, and are occupied by priests.
, . r , , ,,
(Mi Teaching San I'.spaiia we held a discus-
. ., . .. . ..
p 1 1 in n in mo nrnnrii'iv ni rntr.u mimr iKri int.
lor Ihe mission wns a strong building, surround-
ed by a high wall, nnd might have been held a-
ngim.t very superior numbers. Funning and I,
however, did not like the idea of being cooped
up m a house, and nt last Whartm yielded.
We left our horses nnd mustangs in the charge
of t ight men, and with the remainder set out
in the direction ofthe Salado, which flows from
north to south, n third of u mile to the west
ward of ihe mission. About ha!f-vvav between
the latter nnd the river, was a small group, or halted. In this position, the line cavalry form
ishmd, of inuskeet trees, the only object that ed the chord ofthe arc described by tiie river,
broke the uniformity of the prairie. The bank ' n, occupied by us.
ofthe river on our side was tolerably steee, a-j As men as ti.ey halted, they opened their
bout eight or ten feet high, hollowed out here j firo though they could i,t see one of us, for
nnd there, nnd covered with a thick network of j U(! w,.rc completely sheltered by the tank,
wild vines. The Sah do nt this spot describes j ( ),,r Mexican heroes, however, apparently did
a sort of bow shaped curve, with a ford at either j , tliitik it neces.-ary to be within sight or
eid. by which alone tho rivet can be passed, 1 um,,e t,,-..j,. 0p,,0Ill.llts before firing, for they
for although not very broad, it is rapid and j nU , r,,n;; V(lllcv 1(l (i,,nn(,e whichno
deep. We resnhe.1 to take up a position w ith- j chtU,w wiM r irrv. ' qq,; (ow ,)Prs .
in this bow, calculating that we might manage P(.j t;,r nbout a' hundred yards, halted a
to defend the two fords, which were not a above j i,,),,,!, fir,-, another volley, nnd then
a quarter of a mile apart. I vi., nn(irr j,,,!,,,,, fi) tNi ntri. They on-
At 'he sa lie limn we did not lose si'.ht of the tinned this sort of imihiuur till they found
i .
dangers of such a position, and ofthe almost : theiiiselves w ilhiu two hundred and fifty paces
certainty t hat if the enemy managed to cross j ot u-, and then appeared iucliuid to take a
tho river, we should be surrounded and cut od! ; hule time for reflection.
But our success on the few occasions oil which Wc. kept ourselves perfectly still. The dra
we had hitherto come to blows with the Mexi- I goons evidently did not like the aspect of inat
enns, at Velasco, ut Nacogdoches, and fill- tors. Our remaining coiieeu'ed, and not re
veston, had inspired us with so much confidence j (dying to their lire, seemed to bother them,
we considered ourselves a match for thousands ', We saw the officers taking a deul of pains to
of such foes, and actually began to wish the en- encourage their men, and at l.i.-ttwo squadnms
emy would uttack us before our main body came . advanced, the others following more slowly, a
up. We rcconiioitcrcd the ground, lutioneii a short distance in rca". This was the moment
....
nic helot twelve men at encii font, am an ooua
numb'-r in llm island of muskeet trees; and
established ourselves with thu remainder n-
mong tho vines and in the hollows on the river
bank.
The commissariat department ofthe Texan
.irmy, was, as may be supposed, not yet p,.ued j ftwn them -elves, encouraged the Mexi- fired. Fanning and a dozen of his sharpest j et, and moccasins. Where this man had sprung
upon nny very regular footing. In fact, every ! r.lhl, t(1 ;v,rP. Ti.y eemed at first taken i men had again loaded, and wcro by our tide, j from was a perfect riddle, lie was unknown
man, w as, for the present, his own commissary j rati.,.r !uek by the fall of four of their officers, ' For nearly a Vuinute the Mexicans remained as j to any of us, although I bad some vague reci I
genera!. Finding our stock ot prov isi.ms to he i m, nevertheless, niter a moment's lie-itntion, if stnpitie.t by our murderous lire, and ui.ccr- i lection of having seen him before, but wheio
very small, we et tit out a party of foragers j tlt.v v.;,. thundering n long at full sp I. They ! ''i whether to advance or retire ; but ns those i or when, 1 could not cnll to mind. He had a
who soon relumed with throe theep, which
they hail taken from a r"ie.n, within a mile
ol San Antonio. An old priest, whom they
j ,'l'"l,c' tUl'r(, llu'' tlire'itened them with the au
ger of I leaven and oftieneral Cos; but they
paid little attention to his denunciations, nnd,
throwing down three dollars, walked oil' with
the tdicep. Tho priest became furious, got
upon his mule, and trotted uway in the direc
tion of the city lo complain to General Co of
the misconduct ot tho heretic.
After this wc mado no doubt that we should
soon have a visit from the worthy Dons. Ne-
si"ns of the Mexicans. This treachorous tort
of culm, we thought, iiiijjht for bud c a fctorui,
and we did not allow it to lull us iuto security-
We let the im u pi t their. ''t ,,kf,il, which
they had hurJly fi;v.!icd when the pickif from
the upper ford came in with news thbt a Btrong
buly of cnvaliy wns approaching the river, and
that their vanguard was already in tho hol
low w ay leading to the ford. We had scarce
ly received this intelligence when we heard
the blare of the trumpets, and the next iiuv
ment we saw the officers push their horse up
the declivitous bank, closely followed by their
men, whom they formed up in the prairie.
Wc counted six siuall squadrons, about three
hundred men in nil. They were the llurantro
dragoons smart troops enough to all appear
ances, capitally mounted and equipped, uud
armed with carbines and tabres.
Although the enemy had doubtless rennnoi
terrd from the opposite shore, and ascertained
our position, he could not form any accurate i
den of our numbers, lor with a view to deceive
him, we kept the men in constant motion,
sometimes show inn a part of them on the pic
ric, then causing them to disappear Benin be
hind the vines and biu-hcs. This was ail very
knowing for joung soldiers such as we were;
but, on the other hand, we had committed a
grievous error nnd sinned agiin.-t nil establish
ed military rules, by not placing u picket on
the further side oftho river, to warn us of the
approach of the enemy, nml the direction in
which he wns roming. There can be little
doubt that if we hail had earlier notice o their
approach, thirty or forty pood marksmen and
all our people were that iiti'. ht net only have
' r
tempt to cross the Silado. The hollow way on
theother side of the river, leading to the torn,
w as narrow and Iclerab'y steep, nnd the bank
nt lea.-t six times as high us oil our side. No
thing would have been easier t hit 1 1 to have sta
tioned u party so as to pick ofl the cavalry as
they wound throiiah this sort of pass, nnd c
merired two by two upon the shore. Our error
however, did not strike us till it was too Lite to
rop.ir it; so we were fain to console ourselves
with then-flection that the Mexican? would be
much more likely In attribute our negligence
to an excess of confidence in our resources,
than to the inexperience of military matters,
which was its rial ennse. We resolved to do
"t'r ''est to merit the pood opinion which we
thus fuppoacd them to enttrtain of us,
When the whole ofthe dragoons had crossed
the water, they man bed on for a short dis
tance in an easterly direction; then, w heeling
to the right, proceeded southward, until with
in son-e five hundred paces of us, where they
; we Iiad wmted lor. Ao sooner Had mo uragns i
: got into u canter, th an six of our meu who had
J received orders to that ctl'ect sprang up the
j hank, took steady in in nt the officers, fired, und
j then juiep' d down again.
j lv,s (.Xpectetl, the small numbers that
v ere w ii;iin sixty or seventy ycrds of us w hen
Fanning ui. l thirty ol our rii'euicii riseeui'd
the bank, mid with u coolness and revision
that would have done credit lotho nivst veteran
troops, poured a blcndy lire into the ranks of
thu dragoons.
It requires some nervo nnd courage for men
who hove never gem through any regular mi
litary training, to stand their ground singly and
unprotected, within fifty yards of an advancing
line of cavalry. Our fellow s did it, how ever,
and fired, not nil at once, or in a hurry ; but
klowly ami deliberately ; a running fire, every
shot of w hich told. Saddle utter radd!o was
emptied ; tho men, ns they 1 ,,j been ordered,
alw ays picking out the foremost horsemen, and
a-3 soon as they iiud fired, jumping down the
bauk to reload. When the whole ofthe thirty
uieii liad dioi hargcj their rifled, Whartou and
I myall, w.th the icutvu of bi. and thiity mere,
took their places, but the dngootis had almost
had enough already, and wo lind scarcely fired
ten shots when they executed a right-about
turn, with on uniformity and rapidity which did
infinite credit to their drill, and went off at a
pace that soon carried them out of reach of our
bullets. They had probably not expected so
warm a reception. We saw their officers do
ing everything they could to check their flight,
imploring, threatening, even cutting at them
with th'-ir sabres, but it was of no use, if they
were to ho killed, it must be in their own way,
and they preferred being cut dow n by their
officers to encountering the deadly precision of
rifles, in the hands of men who, being sure of
hitting a squirrel at a hundred yards, were not
l.kely to miss n Durango dragoon at any point
w thin range.
Our object in ordering the men to fire slow
ly, was, always to have thirty or forty rides
loaded, wherewith to receive the enemy should
he attempt a charge rn masse. Hut our first
greeting had been a sickener, nnd it appeared
almost doubtful whether he would venture to
nt'a.-k us again although the officers did every
thing in their power to induce their men to
adwiiicc. For n long time, neither threats, en
treaties, nor reproaches produced any effect.
We saw the oflicers gesticulating furiously,
poii.ting to us w ith their sabres, nnd impatien
tly spurring their horses, till the fiery animals
plunged and reared, and sprnng with nil four
fei t from the ground, ll is only just to say,
that the officers exhibited a degree of courage
t'.i r beyond anything we had expected from
them. Ofthe two squadons that charged us,
two-thirds of the oflicers had fallen ; but those
who remained instead of appearing intimidated
by their comrades' fate, redoubled their efforts
to bring their men forward.
At last there appeared come probability of nc
eoiniilishing this, after a most curious mid truly
Mi xican fashion. Posting themselves in front
of their squadrons, they rode on alone fur a hun
dred yards or so, halted, looked round, as much
as to say "You sec there is no danger ns far as
this," and the gallopping back, led their men on.
F.ach time that they executed this manoeuvre,
the dragoons would advance slowly Eomo thir
ty or forty paces, and then halt as simultane
ously as if the word of command had been gi
ven. Oil' went the officers again, some dis
tance to the front, and then back ngain to their
men, nnd got them on n little further. In this
manner these heroes were inveigled once more
to within a hundred and fitty yards of our posi -
tion.
Of course, nt each of tlio numerous halts
which they made during their advance, they
tiivored us with a general, innoxious discharge
of their carbines ; and at last, gaining routi
dence I fiuppose, from our passiveness, and from
the noise and smoke they themselves had been
making, three squadrons which had not yet
been under fire, formed open column, nnd ad
vanced at a trot. Without giving them time
to'lmlt or reflect "Forward ! Charge !" shou
ted the officers, urging their own horses to their
utmost speed, and, following the impulse thus
given the three squadrons came charging furi
ously along.
I'p sprang thirty of our men to receive them.
Their orders wcro to fire slowly, nnd not throw
away a shot, but tho gleaming sabres and ra
pid approach ofthe dagootig flurried some of
them, and filing a hasty volley, they jumped
down the bank again. This precipitation had
m-nrly been fatal to us. Several of the dra-' wo passed through them, hud betrayed our
goons fell, and there were some confusion and J where about; so perceiving that we were disco,
a momentary faltering among the others ; but j vcyed, 1 sprang up the bank into the prairie, ft I
they still came on. At this critical moment, ' towed by my men, to whom I bhouted, abova
Wh irtou and myself, with the reserve showf.d, ! nil to aim at the artillerymen,
ourselves on the bank. "Slow and stire mark j I had raised my own riflle to my shouldf r,
your men !" shouted wc both. Wliarton on ! when I let it full ngain in astonishment at an
the right and I on the left. The command was apparition that presented itself to my view,
obeyed ; ritlc after ride crackc.j 0fl, always ai- j This was a tall, lean, wild figure, with a faco
ined at the foremost of the dragoons, nnd at every overgrown by a long beard that hung down U;i
reort a saddle wasem- itied. Before we had I on his breast, and dressed in a leather cap, jack-
v bo attempted the for most were invariably shot i
down, they at to't began a retreat, which was
soon converted iuto a route. We gave them 1
a farewell volley, which eased few more j
horses of their riders, and then got under cover ,
ng iin, to await what might next occur, i
But the Mexican cubelleros had no notion of1
coining up to the bcr Ach a third tune. Tin y i
kept patrolling u'.hjut. koine three or four bun-
It, BUUIV UlltV v. ' ......
firing volleys ut us, which
j with ported impunity, as
dred yards Und
they were uhle to do
'.a that dislunce we did not think proper to re
turn a shut .
The bkiruiith had lasted ncurly three quar-
tors of an hour. Strange to say, we had not a ! men ! Why don't ye knock 'em on tho heal!"
ingle man wounded, although nt tiuieu the It certainly was not the moment to reio i.n -bulUt.
had fallen about us a thick us hail. We Idle. We fired, but our ailonishiueii'. had t'nrovr
could not account tor this. Many of us had , us off our balance, and we nearly all niM-V.
been bit by the balls, but a bruis.0 or a grate of j We sprang down the bank, ajain to load, nl
the tkui wao the wurst tonsequence that hud i as the men tcrvu g th gun wsrfo fclewwg t
ensued. We were in a fair way to deem our
selves iuvulnernble.
We were beginning to think that th" fight
was over for the day, when our videtts at tho
lower ford brught us the somewhat unpleasant
intelligence that large masses of infantry wcro
approaching the river, and would soon lie in
sight. The words were hardly uttered when,
the roll of the drums and shrill squeeks of t'.ej
l fifes became audib'e, nnd in a few minutes llm
head ofthe column of infantry, having crossed
the ford, ascended the sloping hanks nnd deli
Med in the prairie opposite the island of muskert
trees. As company nfter company appeared,
we were able to form a pretty correct cstimatu
of their numbers. There were two battalion --,
together about a thousand men; and they
brought a field piece w ith them.
These were certainly rather odd to be appo
sed to seventy-two men and three officers ; for
it must he remembered that wc had left twen
ly of our people at the mission, and in the islun t
of trees. Two battalliom ot infantry, nnd six
squadrons )f dragoons the latter, to be sun-,
disheartened nnd diminished by the loss of soma
fiily men, but nevertheless, formidable oppo
nents, now they wore supported by tho foot sol
diers. About twenty Mexicans to each of ue.
It was getting past a joke. We were oil capi
tal shots, and most of us besides our rides had.
a brace of pistols ; but w hat were seventy fivrj
rides, nnd five or ix score of pifctols against a
thousand muskets nnd bayonet?, two hundred
and fifty dragoons, nnd a field piece loaded witfi
canister ! If the Mexicans had a spark of cou
rage or soldiership about them, our fate wasEea
led. But it was exactly this cournge mil
soldiership which wc made 6ure would be wan
ting.
Nevertheless we, the officers, could not re
press a feeling of anxiety and self reproach,
when we reflected that we had brought out
comrades into such a hazardous predicament.
But on looking around us our apprehensions va
nished. Nothing could exceed thepeifect cool
ness and confidence with which the men wcro
cleaning and preparing their rifles for the ap
proaching conflict; no bravado no boasting,
talking, or laughing, but a calm decision of
manner, which at onco told us, that if it wera
possible to overcome such odds as were brought
ngainst us, those were the men to do it.
Our arrangement for the approaching btrng
gle were wxui completed. Fanning and Whar-
ton were to make head against the infantry and
! cavalry. I was to capture the field piece
nnd eight pounder.
The gun was placed by the Mexicans upoi,
their extreme left, close to the river, the slio.r
of which it commanded for a considerable vli.--tauce.
Tho bank on which wo were prjste.l
was, as before mentioned, indented by ca.vesa:nl
hollows, and covered with a thick tapestry of
vines, and other plants, which was now veiy
useful in concealing us from the arVillery men.
The latter made a pretty good guess at our po
sition however, and at the first discharge, thu
canister, whizzed past us at a very short dis
tance. There was not a moment to lose, tor
one well directed shot might exterminate half
of us. Followed by a dozen men, I worked my
way as well as I could through the labyrinth of
vines und bushe and w as not more than fifty
yards from the gun, when it was ngain find.
No one was hurt, although tho thot was evi
dently intended for my party. The cnen y
could not t,ec us ; but the motion of the vims.
h.njr rifle in his hands, v Inch he must have fin d
once already, for one of tho artillerymen lay
dead bv the gun. At the moment I first caught
(,f him, he khot down another, and then
began reloading with a rapid dexterity, that
proved lum to be well used to the thing. My
men were as much astonished as I was by t'ns
strange apparition, which appeared tohavestur.
, ted out ofthe earth; and tor a tew second 4 th'-y
- '
J forgot to lire, mi l atooj g-.zieg at the Uranger.
Tlio latter i!id not seem to approve of their in-
action.
I) yer eyes, ye etarin" shouted he in a
' rough hoarse voice, "don't ye them art llery