American Flag. (Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico), Vol. 2, No. 134, Ed. 1 Saturday, September 18, 1847 Page: 1 of 4
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" LONG MAT IT WAVE O'ER THE LAND Of THE FREE AND THE HOME OF THE BRAVE."
Vol. II.
MATAMOROS, SEPTEMBER 18, 1817.
No. 134.
the american flag
It published Wednesdays and Saturdays, near
the corner of Bravo »nd Abasolo streets, in the
building known as the "Casa de Stesrabote," by
I. N. FLEESON and J. R. PALMER.
TERMS.
SmMCRwnoM for One Year, Etoar Dollars;
gix Months, Four Dollars ; Three Months, Two
Dollars and Ftrrt Cents; Single Copies, One
Pimk—payable invariably in advance.
Advertisements, not exceeding ten lines, One
Dollar for the first, and Fifty Cants for eaeh subse-
quent insertionj far Three Months, Ten Dollars;
those of greater length charged in proportion.
GEN. SCOTT'S LAST GREAT BATTLES!
The following description of the battles of Con-
trcras and Churubusco is taken from the correspond-
s ice of the n. o. Delta:
Tacobaya, August 26, 1847.
Eds Delta—The late brilliant achieve-
ment of the arms of the United States over
the superior numbers of the enemy, and in
front of their capital, cannot but excite the ad-
miration and pride of our people, from one
end of the land to the other j but those who
were not here to witness and participate in
the desperation of the conflict—the great,
and apparently insurmountable obstacles—
the privations and hardships endured—never
can properly appreciate the brilliancy of the
victory, the gallantry and good conduct, and
the scientific attainments of our noble little
army. Our comparative loss, of those en-
gaged, exceeds that of any battle of which
we have any recollection; being about one
out of six. To attempt to enumerate, in a
proper manner, the individual instances of
heroism—of determined and deliberate cour-
age—of the perseverance and intrepidity
with which great and powerful obstacles
were surmounted, would be but commencing
a great and endless task. I trust, when the
details of these brilliant affairs are given by
the respective commanders, that oar country
will testify its admiration and respect by
some substantial reward—a reward that will
live in memory and in history when the act-
ors in these stirring scenes shall have moul-
dered into dust.
About the 15th inst. i» was determined we
should not attack El Pefion, where the ene-
my had made every preparation to receive
us, and where, no doubt, we would have been
compelled to sacrifice many more lives than
-we have already done. Accordingly, the
engineers having discovered a road by which
we could turn it, we took up our march around
Lake Chalco. At this movement the enemy
were seriously nonplused, as they were not
aware themselves of any practicable route
we could take that would effectually turn
their position, and, in order to delay our
movement, sent out Gen, Alvarez, the great
champion of the South, with his Pintos, to-
gether with a portion of the regular army,
amounting in all to about 10,000 men, to at-
tack the rear column, under the command
of Gen. Twiggs; but it turned out to be a
feeble attempt. Gen. Twiggs had scarcely
formed his line of battle, and open his batte-
ry, under the command of Capt Taylor, be-
fore ihey fled with great precipitancy. A
few well directed shots from the battery made
a forcible impression upon their column, and
they retreated, leaving a portion of their dead
and wounded to take care of themselves.—
The whole affair did not detain Gen. Twiggs
"lore than an hour, and he was again on
"is march. By this time the enemy had
discovered the route by which we were mo-
v'ng, and attempted to obstruct the road; but
the sappers and miners, aided by the front of
uen. Worth's column, soon cleared the road
at different places, and by the 17th the head
°' Gen. Worth's column arrived at San Au-
gustin; the enemy's skirmishers firing from
®*ery hill top and other point which favored
. em 00 the route, and their cavalry present-
* emselves in force several times during
e day, but never daring to attack.
u the 16th, Geo. Worth's column moved
0jV" l"e r°ad in the direction of San Anto-
°' which place the enemy fired upo.i
ton j00 ^rao00ns. killing Capt. Thorn-
^ founding the guide. Jonathan Fitz-
?«*r' ° Were a^vancing10 protect theen-
«f s8rS m a ^onoisance of the fortifications
A°tonio: Capt. Thornton had been
very un weft for sometime, and weut out in
command of bis squadron against the advice
of his physician and hw senior officers; but
his energy and gallantry would not allow him
to be inactive when there was the least possi-
bility of meeting the foeV^ As soon as the
dragoons were withdrawn." "Col. Duncan's
bjiitery awl the sappers and miners moved
down the road, and took a position that
would enable them to operate in any direc-
tion, in case of emergency. Col. Smith's
light battalion was thrown out on the left
front to watch the movements of the enemy,
and to hold him in check, in case of his ad-
vancing on his flank. Immediately after,
Col. Garland's brigade made a diversion to
the right and took position in line, resting his
right at the hacienda of San Juan de Dios,
about 400 yards to the right of the road. As
soon as this movement was completed, the
second brigade, under Col. Clarke, moved
down the road until the head of his column
rested on the left of Col. Garland. One
section of the mountain howitzers was bro't
forward, and thus they remained until sun-
down, when the brigade of cavalry withdrew,
leaving the infantry and artillery on the
ground. About two o'clock a heavy rain
came on, which completely drenched the
troops, and they were also exposed during
the night to a slow drizzling lain, without
Riley. At this stage of the battle, while it
was raging with extreme severity, the enemy
appeared on the left of the fort at Contreras,
and in rear of the village of Ensaido, where
Col. Riley had arrived, with a force of li',-
000 men, commanded, as we afterwards learn-
ed, by Santa Anna in person, apparently
threatening the safety of Col. Riley and Gen.
Cadwalader. Gen Pillow ordered the 15th
infantry, under Col. Morgan, to the support
of Gen Cadwalader. Gen. Scott came up-
on the field about this thime, bringing with
him Gen. Shields' bi igade of volunteers from
South Carolina and New York, when he
advanced to the support of Gen. Cadwalader
Gen. Twiggs
finding
O • li' ^ I (4 III j M 11> iJ \J U k J J J'
tents or blankets. Gen. Worth, with a part etl> and 11 being doubtful whether they could
nr I ho 1 of kri/vn/in 4 L _ I * _ J r I n a ratrino o fu-.f ll\m> L., hI L I*
„ his command so
separated, and that it was utterly impossible,
from the nature of the ground, for him to
reach the point he intended to occupy, as
night approached, fell back with a portion of
his staff to the place where Gen Scott was
passing the night, without shelter, or anything
more than his usual uniform to protect him
from the inclemency of the weather.
Magruder's and the howitzer battery be-
ing disabled, and it being evident that our
left was advancing on a route prepared for
it by the enemy—he having cleared away
all the brush and other obstacles that ob-
structed his view—thereby exposing our in-
fantry to a destructive fire as they approach-
of the 1st brigade occupied the hacienda of
San Juan de Dios during the night, and the
enemy amused themselves by firing a few
random shot at it about sundown, from San
Antonio, but without any other effect than to
riddle the house completely with balls, and
to besprinkle the officers with the mortar
and dust of the old hacienda. During the
day, Maj. Graham was sent out from San
Augustin, Gen. Scott's headquarters, towards
Contreras, to protect the engineers in a re-
connoisance of the route in that direction,
where, during the forenoon, he engaged a
force of the enemy's cavahy and infantry,
which he drove back with a loss of 8 killed.
2 wounded, and 5 prisoners; Maj. Graham's
command sustained no loss.
On the 19th, the enemy fired from their
works at San Antonio on the hacienda of
San Juan de Dios, supposing a part of our
forces were still there. About 10 o'clock
the sappers and miners, under Lieut. Smith,
and the section of mountain howitzers, un-
der Lieut. Callender, returned to San Au-
gustin and joined Gen. Pillow's division,
which was then taking up its march in the
direction of Contreras. Gen Pillowcontin-
ued his march, opening the road as he went,
until he reached a high point, from whence
we had the enemy and his fortifications in
full view. Between 1 and 2 o'clock the di-
vision of G^n. Twiggs came up with the ad-
vance, and moved forward; Gen. Smith's
brigade advancing to the left, and Col. Ri-
ley's to the right. Gen. Pillow placed atthe
disposal of Gen. Twiggs Capt. Magruder's
battery and Lieut Cad walader's howitzers—
both of which belonged properly to the di-
vision of Gen. Pillow.
With great difficulty the two batteries mo-
ved forward, having to travel half a mile
cross the ravine after they had reached it,
Gen. Smith ordered Capt. Magruder and the
howitzer battery to open, in order to attract
the attention of the enemy, while he made a
movement to the right, which he had deter-
mined on, in order to try one of the enemy's
flanks. Leaving three companies of the
3d infantry to support the battery, and about
20 men of Maj. Ditnick's command, to rein-
force the loss sustained by the battery, Gen.
Smith moved off with the sappers and miners,
Lieut. Smith, 1st artillery, Mcj. Diirtick, 3d
artillery, Capt. Alexander, and as many o!
the rifle regiment as could be got together,
Lhey having been detached during the day
as skirmishers, and to cover the engineeis in
their reconnoisance, After passing over the
broken and irregular surface of land, and
crossing the deep ravines, he succeeded in
reaching the village of Ensaido, General
Smith being the ranking officer present, Gen.
Cadwalader reported to him with four regi-
ments of Gen. Pillow's division. Col. Ri-
ley's brigade had crossed the ravine and gone
up towards Contreras, after a strong body
of the enemy, whi<*h he drove off. The en-
emy was now drawn up in two lines, above
the village and on the right of the fort; the
front infantry, and the rear cavalry. 'The
village of Enialdo is protected on one side
by a deep ravine—on the road between it
and the stream is a house and garden, sur-
rounded by a high and very strong stone wall
—the village ?s intersected with narrow lanes
between high dykes, enclosing gardens full
of fruit trees and shrubbery, affording pro-
tection and concealment for the men. The
church, standing in the centre, also afforded
protection, if necessary. Gen Smith now
directed Gen. Cadwalader's force to be drawn
up on the outer edge of the village, facing
Having iu navel 1141 i d, Illllcj r ^ ^iv 'UVUib
over a broken and confused mass of lava, ap- j l"e enemy's heavy force on the left of the
parently impassable to footmen. The enemy! ^ort' f°rmed the 3d infantry and rifles in col-
opened his heavy batteries from Contreras,;'""" """" > ~~
and the advancing troops of Gen. Smith's!
brigade hotly engaged the enemy's infantry
umn of company, left in front on the right
flank, and placed Lieut. Smith's sappers and
m>nens. and Capt. Irwin's company of the
I Ith infantry in the church, and Maj Dim-
ick's regiment in the garden on the road, in
order to secure that avenue and the rear. ......—
Con Smith now determined to attack the them and let the bayonet do its work ! "—and
large force on the enemy's right; with Col. I his command rushed down the slope with
Riley oa the left, Gen. Cadwalader on the!desperation and enthusiasm enough to strike
riyht ol the former, retired in echelonbut iterror to the heart of the boldest—while the
mined engagement in the morning. But now
imagine the position of this portion of the ar-
my—numbering 3500 at tbe outside, with-
out artillery or cavalry, while the enemy in
front and on the left had 19,000 troops—those
in the fort said to be the best of Mexico—
with 22 pieces of artillery, and among hi*
troops 7000 cavalry. It was evident that
some decisive action had to be taken—that
some great effort had to be made—and Gen.
Smith and Col. Riley, seconded as they then
were, were just the men competent to the
task. An attack on the main work was de-
termined upon, and the movement to take
place at three o'clock on the foJIowingmorn-
ing. Here another obstacle presented itself
—the force of Gen. Smith was not strong
enough to attack the main work and hold
the village at the same time, and it was of
the utmost importance he should do so; for,
if he drove the enemy from his main work,
and in his retreat he gained possession of the
village, he could hold it long enough to al-
low his troops to get away, and in all proba-
bility seriously embarrass any further move-
ment of our army until he was safely fixed
somewhere else.. It is said that fortune fa-
vors the brave—and in this instance it most
truly did—for while Gen. Smith was prepa-
ring for his attack. Gen. Shields reported
his near approach with his brigade of South
Carolina and New York volunteers—and
here was an exhibition of magnanimity on
the part of a high-minded soldier to a brother
officer. When Gen. Shields arrived he was
the ranking officer and could have assumed
the command, but he was not the man to
pluck the bright laurels about to be gathered
by a brother soldier, in carrying one of the
strong works of the enemy—accordingly he
moved subject to the command of General
Smith, and his brigade was placed in the vil-
lage of Ensaido, as circumstances might re-
quire, either to cut off the retreat of the troops
from Contreras or fo take the reserve of the
enemy in flank, if it should change in front,
and attempt to attack our forces towards Con-
treras.
At 3 o'clock, on the morning of the 20th,
our troops commenced their movement to-
wards the attack—the night was so dark that
the men could not go out of reach of one
another for fear of losing their way. This
caused the movement to be so slow that day-
break approached before the head of Gen.
Cadwalader's brigade commenced descending
into the ravine at the village. As soon as
Col. Riley got out of the deep ravine, and at
a point where it was thought the rear of the
work could be approached, the head of the
column halted and closed, at the same time
drawingthe loads out of the guns, supposed
to be wet. Col. Riley then formed his bri-
gade in columu by divisions—and thus the
column stood formed, Col. Riley's brigade
in the advance, next Gen. Cadwalader and
Gen. Smith's brigades, together with the
sappers and miners, under the command of
Maj. Dimick, closed up the rear—leaving
Gen, "Shields at the village. Col. Riley con-
tinued up the ravine, bearing a little to his
left, and as he raised over the bank he stood
ironting tho rear of the enemy's works—but
he was protected from the severity of his fir*
by the favorable position of the ground As
soon as Col. Rilev ascended the hill and
came in full view of the enemy, they imme-
diately opened a warm fire upon him. Col.
Riley threw out his two advanced divisions
as skirmishers, and said " Forward 1—now,
boys, close and give them hell—close in with
.1. Jit > ,i*. t i tt «
which he had thrown out a^rosi a deep ra-
vine and creek in front of his fortifications.
He appeared determined to maintain this po-
sition, using his artillery for a time against
the rear brigades of ear army as they came
up; but he was not able to stand the severi-
ty ol the conflict, and was compelled to re- _ , ...
tire with heavy loss. He then concentrated heiore the movement could be completed,
his fire upon the howitzers and Capt. Ma* n'?ht approached, and the enemy's line could _ — F
gruder's battery. These two batteries sus- j not s 'en; therefore the order was coun-|saPPe^ and miners and the^rifle regiment,
tained for more than an hour the lire of 221 tenraanded, and G^n. Cadwalader assumed j which had been thrown across the lavine.
pieces of a i tillery, mostly of large calibre,! position on the edge of the village, Col. intervening between the one they had passed
when they were ordered by Gen. Smith to! -Riley's brigade was formed in a long lane »p and under the brow of the slope which
retire from so unequal a conflict. Their loss j >t,s'd« parallel to it, the rifles on his left, and : Col. Riley came down, from that position
was very severe, and among others, we have, l^ie ^ infantry in the churchyard. Thus! ro,,red in a lire which swept in front of Col.
to lament the death of Lieut. Johnson; Lieut, they remained exposed to a severe rain all1 Rilev's column and joined in ih« attack of
Callender was also severely wounded
rear of his command moved steadily forward
with the most mechanical precision. The
Gen. Pillow had ordered Gen.
j ^ # ____ ^
' had ordered Gen. Pierce's from the generals down, sharing the severity j Gen. Cadwalader followed the route taken
brigade tothesuppoit of Gen. Smith, and |ot weather—but pei haps it only whetteii by Col. Riley, and as soon as his troops
Gen. Cadwalader's to the support of Col. l^e,r appetites for a more glorious and deter- were formed, moved on to his support. The
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Fleeson, Isaac Neville & Palmer, J. R. American Flag. (Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico), Vol. 2, No. 134, Ed. 1 Saturday, September 18, 1847, newspaper, September 18, 1847; Matamoros, Mexico. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth478495/m1/1/: accessed July 8, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Abilene Library Consortium.