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diff --git a/old/68652-0.txt b/old/68652-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index dc0f450..0000000 --- a/old/68652-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,10265 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Into Mexico with General Scott, by -Edwin L. Sabin - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Into Mexico with General Scott - When attached to the Fourth United States Infantry - -Author: Edwin L. Sabin - -Illustrator: Charles H. Stephens - -Release Date: July 30, 2022 [eBook #68652] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Donald Cummings and the Online Distributed Proofreading - Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from - images generously made available by The Internet - Archive/Canadian Libraries) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK INTO MEXICO WITH GENERAL -SCOTT *** - - - - - - INTO MEXICO WITH - GENERAL SCOTT - - - - -_The American Trail Blazers_ - -“THE STORY GRIPS AND THE HISTORY STICKS” - - -These books present in the form of vivid and fascinating fiction, the -early and adventurous phases of American history. Each volume deals -with the life and adventures of one of the great men who made that -history, or with some one great event in which, perhaps, several heroic -characters were involved. The stories, though based upon accurate -historical fact, are rich in color, full of dramatic action, and appeal -to the imagination of the red-blooded man or boy. - -Each volume illustrated in color and black and white - - 12mo. Cloth. - - LOST WITH LIEUTENANT PIKE - GENERAL CROOK AND THE FIGHTING APACHES - OPENING THE WEST WITH LEWIS AND CLARK - WITH CARSON AND FREMONT - DANIEL BOONE: BACKWOODSMAN - BUFFALO BILL AND THE OVERLAND TRAIL - CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH - DAVID CROCKETT: SCOUT - ON THE PLAINS WITH CUSTER - GOLD SEEKERS OF ’49 - WITH SAM HOUSTON IN TEXAS - - - - -[Illustration: “YOU YOUNG RASCAL! WHAT’S THE MEANING OF THIS RACKET?”] - - - - - INTO MEXICO WITH - GENERAL SCOTT - - WHEN ATTACHED TO THE FOURTH UNITED STATES INFANTRY, - DIVISION OF MAJOR-GENERAL WILLIAM J. WORTH, CORPS OF - THE FAMOUS MAJOR-GENERAL WINFIELD SCOTT, KNOWN AS OLD - FUSS AND FEATHERS, CAMPAIGN OF 1847, LAD JERRY CAMERON - MARCHED AND FOUGHT BESIDE SECOND LIEUTENANT U. S. - GRANT ALL THE WAY FROM VERA CRUZ TO THE CITY OF MEXICO, - WHERE SIX THOUSAND AMERICAN SOLDIERS PLANTED THE - STARS AND STRIPES IN THE MIDST OF ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY - THOUSAND AMAZED PEOPLE - - - BY - - EDWIN L. SABIN - - AUTHOR Of “LOST WITH LIEUTENANT PIKE,” “OPENING THE - WEST WITH LEWIS AND CLARK,” “BUILDING THE - PACIFIC RAILWAY,” ETC. - - - _WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY_ - CHARLES H. STEPHENS - _PORTRAIT AND 2 MAPS_ - - - [Illustration] - - - PHILADELPHIA & LONDON - J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY - 1920 - - - - - COPYRIGHT, 1920, BY J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY - - - PRINTED BY J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY - AT THE WASHINGTON SQUARE PRESS - PHILADELPHIA, U. S. A. - - - - -FOREWORD - - -Although General Winfield Scott was nicknamed by the soldiers “Old -Fuss and Feathers,” they intended no disrespect. On the contrary, they -loved him, and asked only that he lead them. No general ever lived who -was more popular with the men in the ranks. They had every kind of -confidence in him; they knew that “Old Fuss and Feathers” would look -out for them like a father, and would take them through. - -His arrival, all in his showy uniform, upon his splendid horse, along -the lines, was the signal for cheers and for the bands to strike up -“Hail to the Chief.” At bloody Chapultepec the soldiers crowded around -him and even clasped his knees, so fond they were of him. And when he -addressed them, tears were in his eyes. - -General Scott was close to six feet six inches in height, and massively -built. He was the tallest officer in the army. His left arm was -partially useless, by reason of two wounds received in the War of 1812, -but in full uniform he made a gallant sight indeed. He never omitted -any detail of the uniform, because he felt that the proper uniform was -required for discipline. He brooked no unnecessary slouchiness among -officers and men; he insisted upon regulations and hard drilling, and -the troops that he commanded were as fine an army as ever followed the -Flag. - -While he was strict in discipline, he looked keenly also after the -comforts and privileges of his soldiers. He realized that unless the -soldier in the ranks is well cared for in garrison and camp he will not -do his best in the field, and that victories are won by the men who are -physically and mentally fit. He did not succeed in doing away with the -old practice of punishment by blows and by “bucking and gagging,” but -he tried; and toward the ill and the wounded he was all tenderness. - -As a tactician he stands high. His mind worked with accuracy. He drew -up every movement for every column, after his engineers had surveyed -the field; then he depended upon his officers to follow out the plans. -His general orders for the battle of Cerro Gordo are cited to-day as -model orders. Each movement took place exactly as he had instructed, -and each movement brought the result that he had expected; so that -after the battle the orders stood as a complete story of the fight. - -His character was noble and generous. He had certain peculiar ways――he -spoke of himself as “Scott” and like Sam Houston he used exalted -language; he was proud and sensitive, but forgiving and quick to -praise. He prized his country above everything else, and preferred -peace, with honor, to war. Although he was a soldier, such was his -justice and firmness and good sense that he was frequently sent by the -Government to make peace without force of arms, along the United States -borders. He alone it was who several times averted war with another -nation. - -General Scott should not be remembered mainly for his battles won. -He was the first man of prominence in his time to speak out against -drunkenness in the army and in civil life. He prepared the first army -regulations and the first infantry tactics. He was the first great -commander to enforce martial law in conquered territory, by which the -conquered people were protected from abuse. He procured the passage -of that bill, in 1838, which awarded to all officers, except general -officers like himself, an increase in rations allowance for every -five years of service. The money procured from Mexico was employed by -him in buying blankets and shoes for his soldiers and in helping the -discharged hospital patients; and $118,000 was forwarded to Washington, -to establish an Army Asylum for disabled enlisted men. From this fund -there resulted the present system of Soldiers’ Homes. - -The Mexican War itself was not a popular war, among Americans, many -of whom felt that it might have been avoided. Lives and money were -expended needlessly. Of course Mexico had been badgering the United -States; American citizens had been mistreated and could obtain no -justice. But the United States troops really invaded when they crossed -into southwestern Texas, for Mexico had her rights there. - -The war, though, brought glory to the American soldier. In the -beginning the standing army of the United States numbered only about -eight thousand officers and men, but it was so finely organized and -drilled that regiment for regiment it equalled any army in the world. -The militia of the States could not be depended upon to enter a foreign -country; they had to be called upon as volunteers. Mexico was prepared -with thirty thousand men under arms; her Regulars were well trained, -and her regular army was much larger than the army of the United States. - -When General Zachary Taylor, “Old Rough and Ready,” advanced with his -three thousand five hundred Regulars (almost half the United States -army) for the banks of the Rio Grande River, he braved a Mexican army -of eight thousand, better equipped than he was, except in _men_. - -A military maxim says that morale is worth three men. All through the -war it was skill and spirit and not numbers that counted; quality -proved greater than quantity. “Old Zach,” with seventeen hundred -Regulars, beat six thousand Mexican troops at Resaca de la Palma. At -Buena Vista his four thousand Volunteers and only four hundred and -fifty or five hundred Regulars repulsed twenty thousand of the best -troops of Mexico. General Scott reached the City of Mexico with six -thousand men who, fighting five battles in one day, had defeated thirty -thousand. Rarely has the American soldier, both Regular and Volunteer, -so shone as in that war with Mexico, when the enemy outnumbered three -and four to one, and chose his own positions. - -The battles were fought with flint-lock muskets, loaded by means of a -paper cartridge, from which the powder and ball were poured into the -muzzle of the piece. The American dragoons were better mounted than the -Mexican lancers, and charged harder. The artillery was the best to be -had and was splendidly served on both sides, but the American guns were -the faster in action. - -Thoroughly trained officers and men who had confidence in each other -and did not know when they were beaten, won the war. Many of the most -famous soldiers in American history had their try-out in Mexico, where -Robert E. Lee and George B. McClellan were young engineers, U. S. -Grant was a second lieutenant, and Jefferson Davis led the Mississippi -Volunteers. The majority of the regular officers were West Pointers. -General Scott declared that but for the military education afforded by -the Academy the war probably would have lasted four or five years, with -more defeats than victories, at first. - -Thus the Mexican War, like the recent World War, proved the value of -officers and men trained to the highest notch of efficiency. - -In killed and wounded the war with Mexico cost the United States -forty-eight hundred men; but the deaths from disease were twelve -thousand, for the recruits and the Volunteers were not made to take -care of themselves. In addition, nearly ten thousand soldiers were -discharged on account of ruined health. All in all the cost of the war, -in citizens, footed twenty-five thousand. The expense in money was -about $130,000,000. - -By the war the United States acquired practically all the country west -from northern Texas to the Pacific Ocean, which means California, -Utah, Nevada, the western half of Colorado and most of New Mexico and -Arizona. This, it must be said, was an amazing result, for in the -outset we had claimed only Texas, as far as the Rio Grande River. - - E. L. S. - - - - -CONTENTS - - - CHAPTER PAGE - THE WAR WITH MEXICO 18 - LIEUTENANT-GENERAL WINFIELD SCOTT 27 - I. THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER 37 - II. A SURPRISE FOR VERA CRUZ 53 - III. THE AMERICANS GAIN A RECRUIT 61 - IV. JERRY MAKES A TOUR 67 - V. IN THE NAVAL BATTERY 84 - VI. SECOND LIEUTENANT GRANT 92 - VII. HURRAH FOR THE RED, WHITE AND BLUE! 110 - VIII. INSPECTING THE WILD “MOHAWKS” 120 - IX. THE HEIGHTS OF CERRO GORDO 130 - X. JERRY JOINS THE RANKS 146 - XI. IN THE WAKE OF THE FLEEING ENEMY 154 - XII. AN INTERRUPTED TOILET 164 - XIII. GETTING READY AT PUEBLA 175 - XIV. A SIGHT OF THE GOAL AT LAST 188 - XV. OUTGUESSING GENERAL SANTA ANNA 194 - XVI. FACING THE MEXICAN HOST 203 - XVII. CLEARING THE ROAD TO THE CAPITAL 218 - XVIII. IN THE CHARGE AT CHURUBUSCO 229 - XIX. BEFORE THE BRISTLING CITY 240 - XX. THE BATTLE OF THE KING’S MILL 250 - XXI. READY FOR ACTION AGAIN 269 - XXII. STORMING CHAPULTEPEC 279 - XXIII. FORCING THE CITY GATES 291 - XXIV. IN THE HALLS OF MONTEZUMA 311 - - - - -ILLUSTRATIONS - - - PAGE - - “You Young Rascal! What’s the Meaning of this Racket?” - _Frontispiece_ - - Winfield Scott――General-in-Chief of the Armies of the - United States at the Period of His Commanding in Mexico 27 - - “And All Your Army and Guns Can’t Keep Them Off” 46 - - “’Peared Like They Were Going to Ambush Me and Take this - Turkey” 125 - - Lieutenant Grant Used this as a Ladder 264 - - -MAPS - - The March to the City of Mexico, 279 Miles 18 - - The Campaign in the Valley of Mexico 194 - - - - -WORDS OF GENERAL SCOTT - - -His motto in life: “If idle, be not solitary; if solitary, be not idle.” - -At Queenstown Heights, 1812: “Let us, then, die, arms in hand. Our -country demands the sacrifice. The example will not be lost. The blood -of the slain will make heroes of the living.” - -At Chippewa, July 5, 1814: “Let us make a new anniversary for -ourselves.” - -To the Eleventh Infantry at Chippewa: “The enemy say that Americans -are good at long shot, but cannot stand the cold iron. I call upon the -Eleventh instantly to give the lie to that slander. Charge!” - -From an inscription in a Peace Album, 1844: “If war be the natural -state of savage tribes, peace is the first want of every civilized -community.” - -At Vera Cruz, March, 1847, when warned not to expose himself: “Oh, -generals, nowadays, can be made out of anybody; but _men_ cannot be -had.” - -At Chapultepec, 1847: “Fellow soldiers! You have this day been baptized -in blood and fire, and you have come out steel!” - -To the Virginia commissioners, 1861: “I have served my country under -the flag of the Union for more than fifty years, and, so long as God -permits me to live, I will defend that flag with my sword, even if my -own native State assails it.” - - - - -THE WAR WITH MEXICO (1846–1847) - - -THE CAUSES - -March 2, 1836, by people’s convention the Mexican province of Texas -declares its independence and its intention to become a republic. - -April 21, 1836, by the decisive battle of San Jacinto, Texas wins its -war for independence, in which it has been assisted by many volunteers -from the United States. - -May 14, 1836, Santa Anna, the Mexican President and general who had -been captured after the battle, signs a treaty acknowledging the Texas -Republic, extending to the Rio Grande River. - -September, 1836, in its first election Texas favors annexation to the -United States. - -December, 1836, the Texas Congress declares that the southwestern and -western boundaries of the republic are the Rio Grande River, from its -mouth to its source. - -The government of Mexico refuses to recognize the independence of -Texas, and claims that as a province its boundary extends only to the -Nueces River, which empties into the Gulf of Mexico, about 120 miles -from the mouth of the Rio Grande. - -This spring and summer petitions have been circulated through the -United States in favor of recognizing the Republic of Texas. Congress -has debated upon that and upon annexation. The South especially desires -the annexation, in order to add Texas to the number of slave-holding -States. - -February, 1837, President Andrew Jackson, by message to Congress, -relates that Mexico has not observed a treaty of friendship signed in -1831, and has committed many outrages upon the Flag and the citizens -of the United States; has refused to make payments for damages and -deserves “immediate war” but should be given another chance. - -March, 1837, the United States recognizes the independence of the Texas -Republic. - -Mexico has resented the support granted to Texas by the United States -and by American citizens; she insists that Texas is still a part of -her territory; and from this time onward there is constant friction -between her on the one side and Texas and the United States on the -other. - -In August, 1837, the Texas minister at Washington presents a proposition -from the new republic for annexation to the United States. This being -declined by President Martin Van Buren in order to avoid war with -Mexico, Texas decides to wait. - -Mexico continues to evade treaties by which she should pay claims -against her by the United States for damages. In December, 1842, -President John Tyler informs Congress that the rightful claims of -United States citizens have been summed at $2,026,079, with many not -yet included. - -Several Southern States consider resolutions favoring the annexation of -Texas. The sympathies of both North and South are with Texas against -Mexico. - -In August, and again in November, 1843, Mexico notifies the United -States that the annexation of Texas, which is still looked upon as only -a rebellious province, will be regarded as an act of war. - -October, 1843, the United States Secretary of State invites Texas to -present proposals for annexation. - -In December, 1843, President Tyler recommends to Congress that the -United States should assist Texas by force of arms. - -April 12, 1844, John C. Calhoun, the Secretary of State, concludes a -treaty with Texas, providing for annexation. There is fear that Great -Britain is about to gain control of Texas by arbitrating between it and -Mexico. The treaty is voted down by the Senate on the ground that it -would mean war with Mexico, would bring on a boundary dispute, and that -to make a new State out of foreign territory was unconstitutional. - -Throughout 1844 the annexation of Texas is a burning question, debated -in Congress and by the public. In the presidential election this fall -the annexation is supported by the Democratic party and opposed by the -Whig party. The Democrats had nominated James K. Polk for President, -George M. Dallas for Vice-President; the Democrats’ campaign banners -read: “Polk, Dallas and Texas!” Polk and Dallas are elected. - -March 1, 1845, a joint resolution of Congress inviting Texas into the -Union as a State is signed by President Tyler just before he gives way -to President-elect Polk. The boundaries of Texas are not named. - -March 6 General Almonte, Mexican minister to the United States, -denounces the resolution as an act of injustice to a friendly nation -and prepares to leave Washington. - -March 21 orders are issued by President Polk to General Zachary Taylor -to make ready for marching the troops at Fort Jesup, western Louisiana, -into Texas. - -This same month the Texas Secretary of State has submitted to Mexico a -treaty of peace by which Mexico shall recognize the republic of Texas, -if Texas shall not unite with any other power. - -In May, this 1845, Mexico signs the treaty with Texas. - -May 28 the President of the United States directs General Taylor to -prepare his command for a prompt defence of Texas. - -June 4 President Anson Jones, of the Texas Republic, proclaims that -by the treaty with Mexico hostilities between the two countries have -ended. But―― - -June 15 President Polk, through the Secretary of War, directs General -Taylor to move his troops at once, as a “corps of observation,” into -Texas and establish headquarters at a point convenient for a further -advance to the Rio Grande River. A strong squadron of the navy also is -ordered to the Mexican coast. And―― - -June 21 the Texas Congress unanimously rejects the treaty with Mexico, -and on June 23 unanimously accepts annexation to the United States. - -July 4, this 1845, in public convention the people of Texas draw up an -annexation ordinance and a State constitution. - -On July 7 Texas asks the United States to protect her ports and to send -an army for her defence. - -August 3 General Zachary Taylor lands an army of 1500 men at the mouth -of the Nueces River, and presently makes his encampment at Corpus -Christi, on the farther shore. - -In October the Mexican Government, under President Herrera, agrees to -receive a commissioner sent by the United States to discuss the dispute -over Texas, and President Polk withdraws the ships that have been -stationed at Vera Cruz. - -December 6, 1845, John Slidell, the envoy from the United States, -arrives in the City of Mexico to adjust the matter of Texas and also -the claims held by American citizens against Mexico. - -The Mexican Republic is in the throes of another revolution. It -declines to include the claims in the proposed discussion; December -30 President Herrera is ousted and Don Maria Paredes, who favors war -rather than the loss of Texas, becomes head of the republic. Minister -Slidell finally has to return home, in March, 1846. But long before -this President Polk had decided to seize the disputed Texas boundary -strip. - - -GENERAL TAYLOR’S CAMPAIGN - -January 13, 1846, General Taylor is directed by the President to -advance and occupy the left or Texas bank of the Rio Grande River; he -has been reinforced by recruits, and is authorized to apply to the -Southern States for volunteer troops. - -March 8 the first detachment is started forward to cross the disputed -strip between the Nueces River and the Rio Grande. Other detachments -follow. Part way General Taylor is officially warned by a Mexican -officer that a farther advance will be deemed a hostile act. He -proceeds, with his 4000 Regulars (half the army of the United States), -and establishes a base of supplies at Point Isabel, on the Gulf shore, -about thirty miles this side of the Rio Grande River. - -March 28 the American army of now 3500 men, called the Army of -Occupation, encamps a short distance above the mouth of the Rio Grande -River, opposite the Mexican town of Matamoros and 119 miles from the -mouth of the Nueces. - -The Mexican forces at Matamoros immediately commence the erection of -new batteries and the American force begins a fort. - -April 10 Colonel Truman Cross, assistant quartermaster general in the -American army, is murdered by Mexican bandits. - -April 12 General Ampudia, of the Mexican forces at Matamoros, serves -notice upon General Taylor either to withdraw within twenty-four hours -and return to the Nueces out of the disputed territory, or else accept -war. General Taylor replies that his orders are for him to remain here -until the boundary dispute is settled. He announced a blockade of the -Rio Grande River. - -April 19 Second Lieutenant Theodoric Henry Porter, Fourth Infantry, is -killed in action with Mexican guerillas. - -April 25, this 1846, occurs the first battle of the war, when at La -Rosia a squadron of sixty-three Second Dragoons under Captain Seth B. -Thornton, reconnoitering up the Rio Grande River, is surrounded by 500 -Mexican regular cavalry. Second Lieutenant George T. Mason and eight -enlisted men are killed, two men wounded, Captain Thornton, two other -officers and forty-six men are captured. - -By this victory the Mexicans are much elated; the flame of war is -lighted in the United States. - -May 11 President Polk announces a state of war, and a bloody invasion -of American soil by the Mexican forces that had crossed the Rio Grande. - -May 13 Congress passes a bill authorizing men and money with which to -carry on the war, and declaring that the war has been begun by Mexico. -There were objections to the bill on the ground that the President had -ordered troops into the disputed territory without having consulted -Congress, and that war might have been avoided. But all parties agree -that now they must support the Flag. - -General Taylor calls on the governors of Louisiana and Texas for 5000 -volunteers. - -April 28 Captain Samuel Walker and some seventy Texas Rangers and -Volunteers are attacked and beaten by 1500 Mexican soldiers near Point -Isabel, the American base of supplies. Captain Walker and six men make -their way to General Taylor with report that his line of communication -has been cut. - -May 1, having almost completed the fort opposite Matamoros above the -mouth of the Rio Grande, General Taylor leaves a garrison of 1000 -men and marches in haste to rescue his supplies at Point Isabel. The -Mexican troops are appearing in great numbers, and matters look serious -for the little American army. - -May 3 the Mexican forces at Matamoros open fire upon the fort, thinking -that General Taylor has retreated. - -May 8 General Taylor, hurrying back to the relief of the fort, with his -2300 men defeats 6500 Mexicans under General Arista in the artillery -battle of Palo Alto or Tall Timber, fought amidst the thickets and -prairie grasses about sixteen miles from Point Isabel. American loss, -four killed, forty wounded; Mexican loss, more than 100 in killed alone. - -The next day, May 9, “Old Rough and Ready” again defeats General Arista -in the battle of Resaca de la Palma, or Palm Draw (Ravine), a short -distance from Palo Alto. Having withstood a fierce bombardment of seven -days the fort, soon named Fort Brown, of present Brownsville, Texas, is -safe. The Mexican forces all flee wildly across the Rio Grande River. - -May 18 General Taylor throws his army across the river by help of one -barge, and occupies Matamoros. Here he awaits supplies and troops. - -August 20 he begins his advance into Mexico for the capture of the city -of Monterey, 150 miles from the Rio Grande River and 800 miles from the -City of Mexico. - -Meanwhile General Paredes, president of Mexico, has been deposed by -another revolution, and General Santa Anna has been called back. - -September 21–22–23 General Taylor with his 6600 men assaults the -fortified city Monterey, in the Sierra Madre Mountains of northeastern -Mexico, and defended by 10,000 Mexican soldiers under General Ampudia. - -September 24 the city is surrendered. American loss, 120 officers and -men killed, 368 wounded; Mexican loss, more than 1000. - -General Taylor proceeds to occupy northeastern Mexico. In November he -receives orders to detach 4000 men, half of whom shall be Regulars, for -the reinforcement of General Scott’s expedition against Vera Cruz. - -February 22, 1847, with 4300 Volunteers and 450 Regulars he encounters -the full army of General Santa Anna, 20,000 men, at the narrow mountain -pass of Buena Vista, near Saltillo seventy-five miles southwest of -Monterey. - -The American army, holding the pass, awaits the attack. In the terrible -battle begun in the afternoon of February 22 and waged all day February -23, the Mexican troops are repulsed; and by the morning of February -24 they have retreated from the field. American loss, 267 killed, 456 -wounded, 23 missing; Mexican loss, 2000. - -The battle of Buena Vista leaves the American forces in possession of -northeastern Mexico. General Santa Anna now hastens to confront General -Scott and save the City of Mexico. General Taylor returns to Louisiana, -and there is no further need for his services in the field. - - -GENERAL SCOTT’S CAMPAIGN - -March 9, 1847, General Winfield Scott, with the assistance of the naval -squadron under Commodore Conner, lands his Army of Invasion, 12,000 men -transferred in sixty-seven surf-boats, upon the beach three miles below -the fortified city of Vera Cruz, without loss or accident. - -In spite of shot and shell and terrific wind storms the army advances -its trenches and guns to within 800 yards of the city walls. On March -22 the bombardment of Vera Cruz is begun. - -March 27 the surrender of the city and of the great island fort San -Juan de Ulloa is accepted. The siege has been so scientifically -conducted that 5000 military prisoners and 400 cannon are taken with -the loss to the American forces of only sixty-four officers and men -killed and wounded. - -Having been detained at Vera Cruz by lack of wagons and teams, on April -8 General Scott starts his first detachment for Mexico City, 280 miles -by road westward. - -[Illustration: _The March to the City of Mexico, 279 Miles_] - -April 12, arrangements being completed, he hastens to the front himself -and is received with cheers for “Old Fuss and Feathers” all along the -way. - -April 18 storms and captures the heights of Cerro Gordo, sixty miles -inland, where his 8000 men are opposed by 12,000 under Santa Anna. -Three thousand prisoners, among them five generals, are taken; 5000 -stands of arms and forty-three pieces of artillery. American loss, 431, -thirty-three being officers; Mexican casualties, over 1000. - -April 19 he occupies the town of Jalapa, fifteen miles onward. April -22 the castle of Perote, some fifty miles farther, is captured without -a struggle. On May 15 the advance division of 4300 men enters the city -of Puebla, 185 miles from Vera Cruz. In two months General Scott has -taken 10,000 prisoners of war, 700 cannon, 10,000 stands of small-arms, -30,000 shells and solid shot. - -The term of enlistment of 4000 twelve-months Volunteers being almost -expired, he waits in Puebla for reinforcements. - -August 7 he resumes the march for the Mexican capital, ninety-five -miles. His force numbers 10,800, and he needs must cut loose from -communications with Vera Cruz, his base. - -August 9, from Rio Frio Pass, elevation 10,000 feet, on the summit of -the main mountain range of Mexico, the army gazes down into the Valley -of Mexico, with the city of Mexico visible, thirty-five miles distant. - -By a new and difficult route he avoids the defences of the main road -to the city, and on August 18 has approached to within nine miles and -striking distance of the outer circle of batteries. - -August 19–20, by day and night attack, 3500 Americans carry the strong -entrenchments of Contreras defended by 7000 Mexicans. American loss, -in killed and wounded, 60; Mexican casualties, 700 killed, 1000 wounded. - -The same day, August 20, 1847, the outpost of San Antonio is taken, the -high citadel of Churubusco stormed. There are five separate actions, -all victorious, and the dragoons charge four miles to the very gates of -the city. Thirty-two thousand men have been defeated by 8000. The total -Mexican loss is 4000 killed and wounded, 3000 prisoners, including -eight generals; the American loss is 1052, of whom seventy-six are -officers. - -August 21 President and General Santa Anna proposes an armistice. - -September 7 the armistice is broken and General Scott resumes his -advance upon the city. - -September 8 the General Worth division, reinforced to 3000 men, in -a bloody battle captures the outpost Molino del Rey or King’s Mill, -and the Casa-Mata supporting it――the two being defended by 14,000 -Mexicans. American loss, killed, wounded and missing is 789, including -fifty-eight officers. The Mexican loss is in the thousands. - -September 12, by a feint the Scott army of 7000 able-bodied men is -concentrated before the Castle of Chapultepec, situated upon a high -hill fortified from base to summit and crowned by the Military College -of Mexico, with its garrison of cadets and experienced officers. - -September 13 Chapultepec is stormed and seized; the road to the city is -opened, the suburbs are occupied and the General Quitman division has -forced the Belen gateway into the city itself. Twenty thousand Mexicans -have been routed. - -At daybreak of September 14 the city council of Mexico informs General -Scott that the Mexican Government and army have fled. At seven o’clock -the Stars and Stripes are raised over the National Palace and the -American army of 6000 proceeds to enter the grand plaza. - -This fall of 1847 there is still some fighting in the country along the -National Road between Vera Cruz and the City of Mexico, and the fleeing -Santa Anna attacks Puebla in vain. - -February 2, 1848, a treaty of peace is signed at Guadaloupe Hidalgo by -the United States commissioner and the Mexican commissioners. - -May 30, 1848, the treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo is ratified by both -parties. - -June 19, 1848, peace is formally declared by President Polk, who on -July 4 signs the treaty. - - -OTHER CAMPAIGNS - -At the end of June, 1846, the Army of the West, composed of 2500 -Volunteers and 200 First Dragoons, under General Stephen W. Kearny, -leaves Fort Leavenworth on the Missouri River to march 1000 miles and -seize New Mexico. - -August 18 General Kearny enters the capital, Santa Fé, and takes -possession of New Mexico. - -This same month the Army of the Center, 2500 Volunteers and 500 -Regulars under General John E. Wool, assembles at San Antonio of Texas -for a march westward to seize Chihuahua, northwestern Mexico, distant -400 miles. - -General Wool is ordered to join General Scott; but in December, 1846, -Colonel A. W. Doniphan, of the Missouri Volunteers of the Kearny army, -leaves Santa Fé with 800 men to march to Chihuahua, 550 miles, and -reinforce him. - -December 25 he defeats General Ponce de Leon, commanding 500 Mexican -regular lancers and 800 Chihuahua volunteers, in the battle of -Brazitos, southern New Mexico. - -February 28, 1848, in the battle of Sacramento, he defeats General -Heredia and 4000 men, entrenched on the road to Chihuahua. American -loss, one killed, eleven wounded; Mexican loss, 320 killed, over 400 -wounded. - -On March 1 the American advance enters the city of Chihuahua. - -Meanwhile, during all these events, on July 7, 1846, Commodore John -D. Sloat, of the navy’s Pacific Squadron, has hoisted the Flag over -Monterey, the capital of Upper California. The explorer, John C. -Fremont, already has supported an uprising of Americans in the north, -and the flag is raised at San Francisco and Sacramento. - -On September 25 (1846) General Kearny starts from Santa Fé with 400 -First Dragoons to occupy California, 1100 miles westward. On the way -he learns that California has been taken. He proceeds with only 100 -Dragoons. A battalion of 500 Mormons enlisted at Fort Leavenworth is -following. - -December 12 he arrives at San Diego, California, and forthwith military -rule is established in California. - - - - -[Illustration: WINFIELD SCOTT - -General-in-Chief of the Armies of the United States at the Period of -his Commanding in Mexico. From the Picture by Chappel] - - - - -LIEUTENANT-GENERAL WINFIELD SCOTT - -“OLD FUSS AND FEATHERS” - - -Born on the family farm, fourteen miles from Petersburg, Virginia, June -13, 1786. - -His father, William Scott, of Scotch blood, a captain in the Revolution -and a successful farmer, dies when Winfield is only six years old. -Until he is seventeen the boy is brought up by his mother, Ann Mason, -for whose brother, Winfield Mason, he is named. All the Scott family -connections were prominent and well-to-do. - -Winfield is given a good education. When he is twelve he enters the -boarding-school of James Hargrave, a worthy Quaker, who said to him -after the War of 1812: “Friend Winfield, I always told thee not -to fight; but as thou wouldst fight, I am glad that thou weren’t -beaten.” When he is seventeen he enters the school, of high-school -grade, conducted in Richmond, Virginia, by James Ogilvie, a talented -Scotchman. Here he studied Latin and Greek, rhetoric, Scotch -metaphysics, logic, mathematics and political economy. - -In 1805, when he is approaching nineteen, he enters William and -Mary College, of Virginia. Here he studies chemistry, natural and -experimental philosophy, and law, expecting to become a lawyer. - -This same year he leaves college and becomes a law student in the -office of David Robinson, in Petersburg. He has two companion students: -Thomas Ruffin and John F. May. The three lads all rose high. Thomas -Ruffin became chief justice of North Carolina; John May became leader -of the bar in southern Virginia; Winfield Scott became head of the -United States Army. - -In 1806 he is admitted to the bar and rides his first circuit in -Virginia. At Richmond, in 1807, he hears the arguments by the greatest -legal orators of the day in the trial of ex-Vice-President Aaron Burr -for high treason. - -While the trial is in progress the British frigate _Leopard_ enforces -the right of search upon the United States frigate _Chesapeake_, off -the capes of Virginia. On July 2 (1807) President Thomas Jefferson -forbids the use of the United States harbors and rivers by the vessels -of Great Britain, and volunteer guards are called for to patrol the -shores. - -Young Lawyer Scott, now twenty-one years of age, becomes, as he says, -“a soldier in a night.” Between sunset and sunrise he travels by horse -twenty-five miles, from Richmond to Petersburg, and having borrowed -the uniform of a tall absent trooper and bought the horse he joins the -first parade of the Petersburg volunteer cavalry. - -While lance corporal in charge of a picket guard on the shore of -Lynnhaven Bay he captures a boat crew of six sailors under two -midshipmen, coming in from Admiral Sir Thomas Hardy’s British squadron -for water. The Government orders him to release the prisoners, and not -to do such a trick again, which might bring on war. - -England having made amends for the attack upon the Chesapeake the -volunteers are disbanded. Corporal Scott resumes his practice of law. -On Christmas Eve, 1807, he arrives in Charleston, South Carolina, to -practice there. But he hears that war with Great Britain is again -likely. Thereupon he hastens to Washington and applies for a commission -in the increased regular army. He is promised a captaincy. - -The Peace Party in the United States gains the upper hand over the War -Party. In March, 1808, Lawyer Scott returns to Petersburg without his -commission. - -May 3, 1808, he receives his commission at last, and is appointed to -a captaincy in the regiment of light or flying artillery then being -raised. He recruits his company from Petersburg and Richmond youths -and is ordered to New Orleans. For the next fifty-three years he is a -soldier, and he outlives every other officer of 1808. - -After a voyage of two months in a sailing vessel he arrives at New -Orleans April 1, 1809. - -The trouble with Great Britain having quieted down this summer, he -despairs of seeing active service and attempts to resign. While in -New Orleans he has said that he believed General James Wilkinson, -commanding that department, to have been a partner of Aaron Burr in the -conspiracy against the United States government. Now when he arrives in -Virginia he hears that he is accused of having left the army through -fear of punishment for his words. So he immediately turns about and -goes back to face the charges. He rejoins the army at Washington, near -Natchez, Mississippi, in November. - -In 1810 he is court-martialed under the Articles of War and found -guilty of “conduct unbecoming a gentleman,” in having spoken -disrespectfully of his commanding officer. He is sentenced to twelve -months’ suspension from duties, with the recommendation that nine of -the months be remitted. - -Under this sentence he returns to Petersburg. He spends every evening, -when at home, reading English literature with his friend Benjamin -Watkins Leigh, in whose family he is staying. His motto is: “If idle, -be not solitary; if solitary, be not idle.” During this period he again -despairs of seeing active service; but he writes: “Should war come at -last, who knows but that I may yet write my history with my sword?” - -In the fall of 1811 he rejoins the army at department headquarters at -Baton Rouge, Louisiana, having made the journey by land over a new road -through the country of the Creeks and Choctaws. - -This winter of 1811–1812 he is appointed superior judge-advocate for -the trial of a prominent colonel. He also serves upon the staff of -Brigadier General Wade Hampton, commander of the Southern Department, -and is much in New Orleans. - -The inactive life of a soldier in peace palls upon him. In February, -1812, the news arrives that Congress has authorized an increase of the -regular army by 25,000 men. This looks like war. May 20, as a member of -General Hampton’s staff, he embarks with the general for Washington. -Upon entering Chesapeake Bay their ship passes a British frigate -standing on and off; in less than an hour they pass a pilot boat -bringing to the frigate the message that the United States has declared -for war with Great Britain. Thus by a narrow margin they have escaped -capture by the frigate. - -July 6, 1812, is appointed lieutenant-colonel, Second Artillery, at the -age of twenty-six. - -Is ordered with his regiment to the Canadian border; reports at Buffalo -October 4, 1812. - -On October 13 leads 450 regulars and militia in a final attack upon -Queenstown Heights, opposite Lewiston, New York. The Heights are held -by a greatly superior force of British regulars and militia and 500 -Indians. The United States militia left on the American side of the -Niagara River refused to cross and support, and the attack failed for -lack of reinforcements. There were no boats for retreat; two flags of -truce had been unheeded; with his own hand young Lieutenant-Colonel -Scott, tall and powerful and wearing a showy uniform (“I will die in -my robes,” he said), bears the third flag forward into the faces of -the raging Indians to save his men. He is rescued with difficulty by -British officers. After the surrender he is held prisoner with the -other Regulars until paroled on November 20 and sent to Boston. - -In January, 1813, is released from parole. Is ordered to Philadelphia -to command a double battalion of twenty-two companies. - -March 12, 1813, promoted to colonel, Second Artillery. - -March 18, appointed adjutant general, rank of colonel. - -May, 1813, appointed chief of staff to Major-General Henry Dearborn on -the Niagara frontier, New York, and reorganizes the staff departments -of the Army. - -May 27 commands the advance again in the attack on Fort George, Canada. -Every fifth man is killed or wounded. By the explosion of a powder -magazine his collar-bone is broken and he is badly bruised; but he is -the first to enter the fort and he himself hauls down the colors. - -July 18 he resigns his adjutant generalcy in order to be with his -regiment as colonel. Leads in several successful skirmishes. - -March 9, 1814, aged twenty-eight, is appointed brigadier-general. -He has become noted as a student of war――a skilful tactician and a -fine disciplinarian. At the Buffalo headquarters he is set at work -instructing the officers. The United States has no military text-book, -but he has read the French system of military training and employs that. - -July 3, 1814, leads with his brigade to the attack upon Fort Erie, -opposite Buffalo. Leaps from the first boat into water over his head, -and laden with sword, epaulets, cloak and high boots swims for his life -under a hot fire, until he can be hauled in again. The fort is captured. - -July 4, again leading his brigade he drives the enemy back sixteen -miles. - -July 5 fights and wins the decisive battle of Chippewa against a much -superior force. The war on the land had been going badly for the United -States. Now the victory of Chippewa sets bonfires to blazing and bells -to ringing throughout all the Republic; the American army had proved -itself with the bayonet and General Scott is hailed as the National -hero. - -July 25 he distinguishes himself again in the night battle of Niagara -or Lundy’s Lane. He is twice dismounted, and is bruised by a spent -cannon ball. Receives an ounce musket ball through the left shoulder -and is insensible for a time. Is borne from the field in an ambulance. - -July 25 brevetted major-general for gallantry at Chippewa and Lundy’s -Lane. - -The wound in his shoulder refuses to heal properly. He is invalided and -is unable to take part in further active service for the rest of the -war. Travels upon a mattress in a carriage. Stops at Princeton College -on Commencement Day, is given an ovation and the degree of Master of -Arts. Congress votes him a special gold medal; the States of Virginia -and New York vote him each a sword. His wound slowly heals under -treatment by noted surgeons, but leaves him with a left arm partially -paralyzed. - -He is placed in charge of operations in defence of Baltimore and is -made president of the National Board of Tactics, sitting in Washington. - -After the close of the war he presides, May, 1815, upon the board -convened to reduce the army. - -Declines to accept the office of Secretary of War. - -July, 1815, sails for Europe, where he witnesses the reviews of 600,000 -soldiers, following the defeat of Napoleon by the allied troops. He -meets distinguished commanders and statesmen of the Old World, and is -awarded many honors. - -Returning from Europe in 1816 he marries Miss Maria Mayo, of Richmond, -Virginia. Seven children――five girls and two boys――were born. Of these, -four died early in life. - -As brigadier-general, in 1818, he begins the preparation of a system of -General Regulations or Military Institutes for the United States Army. -This was approved of by the War Department and Congress. - -September 22, 1824, he writes and has printed “A Scheme for Restricting -the Use of Ardent Spirits in the United States.” This essay was the -basis of the temperance movement in the country. - -In 1824 is president of the Board of Infantry Tactics, meeting at West -Point. - -In 1826 is president of a board of militia officers and regular -officers, convened at Washington to devise an organization and system -of tactics for the militia of the United States. - -In 1828, while inspecting the Indian frontier of Arkansas and -Louisiana, is approved of by the cabinet for appointment to -commander-in-chief of the army, but loses to General Alexander Macomb. - -In the summer of 1832 is ordered from his Eastern Department to proceed -in person against the Sacs and Foxes under Chief Blackhawk, in northern -Illinois and southern Wisconsin. The cholera is raging in the Great -Lakes region. Before leaving New York he takes instructions from a -doctor, and when his force is attacked by the disease on the boats he -himself applies the remedies and prevents a panic. - -Arrives at Fort Crawford, Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, after Blackhawk’s -surrender. Descends the Mississippi to Fort Armstrong, on Rock Island, -and holds grand council with the Sacs, Foxes, Sioux, Menominees and -Winnebagos. Is congratulated by the Secretary of War for his services -and his high moral courage in combating the cholera. - -On his way home to West Point he narrowly escapes a severe attack of -the cholera himself. - -November, 1832, is sent to South Carolina, which has threatened to -secede unless the tariff laws of the Government are modified. General -Scott takes command in Charleston, and by his firmness and good sense -among his fellow Southerners averts civil war. - -In 1834–1835 translates and revises the new French infantry tactics for -use by the United States. These, known as “Scott’s Infantry Tactics,” -were the first complete tactics adopted by the army and were used up to -1863. - -January 20, 1836, is directed by the President to proceed against the -Seminole Indians of Florida. Asked at four in the afternoon when he -could start, he says: “This night.” Through failure of supplies and -by reason of the short-time enlistment of the majority of the troops, -the campaign is unsuccessful. For this, and for a similar delay in a -march against the Creeks, he is court-martialed by order of President -Jackson. The court approves of his campaign plans and acquits him. -Returning to his headquarters in New York he is tendered a public -dinner April, 1837. This he declines. - -January, 1838, is ordered to the Niagara frontier again, where -misguided Americans and Canadians are attempting a movement to annex -Canada to the United States. In dead of winter he travels back and -forth along the American border, quieting the people by his words and -the force of his presence. - -In the spring of this 1838 he is sent into Alabama to remove the -Cherokee Indians to new lands given them by treaty, west of the -Mississippi River. The Indians had refused to go, but by using reason -and gentleness he avoids bloodshed and persuades them to move of their -own accord. - -In February, 1839, is sent by the President as special agent to -northern Maine, where the State of Maine and the Canadian province of -New Brunswick are in arms against each other over a dispute upon the -boundary between. Again by his rare good judgment and by his influence -with the authorities upon either side, he averts what might easily have -resulted in another war. - -In 1840 he is proposed as the Whig candidate for President, but he -declines in favor of General William Henry Harrison, who is elected. - -June 25, 1841, appointed full major-general. - -July 5, 1841, appointed chief of the Army, a position that he occupies -for twenty years. - -From 1841 to 1846 is busied with the duties of his office. He aims to -enforce justice and discipline among the rank and file. August, 1842, -he issues general orders forbidding the practice of officers striking -enlisted men and cursing them, and directs that in cases of offense the -regulations of the service be employed. - -In the summer and fall of 1846, believing that the campaign by General -Zachary Taylor to conquer Mexico by invasion from the Rio Grande River -border cannot succeed, he advises an advance upon the City of Mexico -from Vera Cruz on the Gulf. He asks permission to lead the army in -person. - -November 23, 1846, he is directed by the Secretary of War to conduct -the new campaign. - -Leaves Washington for New Orleans November 25. - -In his absence a bill is introduced in Congress to create the rank of -lieutenant-general, and thus place over him a superior officer. This -movement for politics was defeated, but General Scott felt that he had -“an enemy in his rear.” - -Under these conditions he goes to meet General Taylor at the Rio Grande -in January, 1847, and detaches a portion of the forces for the Vera -Cruz campaign. This makes an enemy of General Taylor. - -February 19, 1847, he issues general orders declaring martial law in -Mexico, for the purpose of restraining the Volunteers from abusing -the people of the conquered territory. This wins over the natives and -restores discipline. - -March 9 to September 14, 1847, he conducts the campaign by which the -City of Mexico, is captured. - -September 14, 1847, to February 18, 1848, he remains in charge of -the military government in Mexico. By his enforcement of martial law -that respects the persons and property of the Mexican people he gains -the leaders’ confidence. He is proposed for dictator of the Mexican -Republic, with a view to annexation to the United States, but declines. - -February 18, 1848, he receives orders from President Polk to turn over -his command to Major-General William O. Butler, and report for trial -by a court of inquiry, on charges that he had unjustly disciplined -Generals Quitman and Pillow, and Lieutenant-Colonel Duncan. He is -acquitted. - -March 9, by joint resolution of Congress, he is voted the National -thanks for himself and his officers and men, and the testimony of a -specially struck gold medal in appreciation of his “valor, skill and -judicious conduct.” - -May 20, 1848, he arrives home to his family at Elizabeth, near -Philadelphia. - -Is assigned to command of the Eastern Department of the Army, with -headquarters in New York. - -In 1850, after the death of President Taylor, he resumes his post in -Washington as commander-in-chief of the Army. - -In 1850 he is awarded the honorary degree of LL.D. by Columbia College -(University). - -June, 1852, he is nominated by the Whig party for President. He is -opposed by President Fillmore and Secretary of State Daniel Webster, -who had been candidates. Is badly defeated in the election by Franklin -Pierce of the Democratic party. - -February, 1855, he is brevetted lieutenant-general from date of March -29, 1847――the surrender of Vera Cruz. This rank had not been in use -since the death of Lieutenant-General George Washington, and was now -revived by special act of Congress. - -In November, 1859, he sails in the steamer _Star of the West_ for Puget -Sound, by way of Panama, to adjust difficulties arising between Great -Britain and the United States over the possession of San Juan Island of -the international boundary. - -In 1860 he counsels the Government to garrison the forts and arsenals -on the Southern seaboard with loyal troops, and thus probably prevent -the threatened secession of the Southern States. His advice is -disregarded. - -In March, 1861, submits other plans by which he still hopes that the -rebellion may be averted. - -Is offered high command by his native State, Virginia, and declines to -forsake the Flag. - -October 31, 1861, being seventy-five years of age and long a cripple, -almost unable to walk from wounds and illness, he retires from the -army. President Lincoln and the cabinet call upon him together and bid -him farewell. There are tears in the old hero’s eyes. - -November, 1861, he sails for a visit in Europe. - -December, 1861, is recommended by President Lincoln in first annual -message to Congress for further honors, if possible. - -June 10, 1862, his wife dies, leaving him with three daughters, now -grown. - -He removes from New York to West Point, and on June 5, 1864, after a -year’s work he completes his autobiography in two volumes. - -He dies at West Point, May 29, 1866, aged eighty, lacking two weeks. - - - - -INTO MEXICO WITH GENERAL SCOTT - - - - -I - -THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER - - -“The North Americans! They are getting ready to attack the city!” - -“Who says so? Where are they?” - -“At Point Anton Lizardo, only sixteen miles down the coast. A great -fleet of ships has arrived there, from North America. The sails looked -like a cloud coming over the ocean. The harbor is crowded with masts -and flags. Yes, they are getting ready.” - -That was the word which spread through old Vera Cruz on the eastern -coast of Mexico, at the close of the first week of March, 1847. - -“Well, the castle will sink them all with cannon balls. It will be -another victory. We shall see a fine sight, like on a fiesta (holiday). -Viva!” - -“Bien! Viva, viva!” Or: “Good! Hurrah, hurrah!” - -There was excitement, but the news travelled much faster than the -Americans, for they seemed to be still staying at desolate Anton -Lizardo. - -Now, March 9, up here at the city of Vera Cruz, was as fine a day as -anybody might wish for. The sun had risen bright and clear above the -Gulf of Mexico, and one could see land and ocean for miles and miles. - -From the sand dunes along the beach about three miles southeast of -Vera Cruz, where Jerry Cameron was helping old Manuel and young Manuel -cut brush for fagots, the view was pleasant indeed. To the northward, -up the sandy coast, the fine city of Vera Cruz――the City of the True -Cross――surrounded by its fortified wall two miles in length, fairly -shone in the sunlight. Its white-plastered buildings and the gilded -domes of its many churches were a-glitter. In the far distance, inland -behind the city, the mountain ranges up-stood, more than ten thousand -feet high, with Orizaba Peak glimmering snowy, and the square top of -Perote Peak (one hundred miles west) deeply blue, in shape of a chest -or strong-box. Outside the sea-wall in front of the city there was the -sparkling bay, dotted with the sails of fishing boats, and broken by -shoals. - -Upon a rocky island about a third of a mile out from the city there -loomed the darkly frowning Castle of San Juan de Ulloa――the fort which -guarded the channel into the harbor. And almost directly opposite the -place where Jerry worked as a woodcutter there basked the island of -Sacrificios or Sacrifices, about two miles out, with the flags of the -foreign men-of-war anchored near it streaming in the breeze. While -farther out, beyond Sacrificios, appeared Green Island, where the ships -of the United States had been cruising back and forth, blockading Vera -Cruz itself. - -The United States and Mexico were at war. They had been at war for -well-nigh a year, but the fighting was being done in the north, where -the Americans had tried to invade by crossing the Rio Grande River and -had been thrashed. At least, those were the reports. General Antonio -Lopez de Santa Anna himself, Mexico’s famous leader, had returned from -exile in Cuba to command the army. He had been landed at Vera Cruz -without the Americans objecting. The Americans had foolishly thought -that he would advise peace――or else they were afraid to stop him. At -any rate, he had gone on to Mexico City, had gathered an army, and not -a week ago word had arrived that he had completely routed the army of -the American general named Taylor, in the battle of Buena Vista, north -Mexico! - -It was said that the crack Eleventh Infantry of the Mexican regular -army had alone defeated the North Americans. The Eleventh had marched -to war last summer, carrying their coats and shirts and pantaloons -slung on the ends of their muskets, because the weather was hot. The -soldiers had not looked much like fighters, to Jerry; many of the -muskets were without locks, and most of the soldiers were barefoot. - -But the news of the great victory filled all Vera Cruz with rejoicing. -The guns of the forts were fired, the church bells were rung, and the -people cheered in the streets, and from the sea-wall shook their fists -at the American fleet in the offing. - -It had been unpleasant news to Jerry, he being an American boy whose -father had died in Vera Cruz, from the yellow fever, and had left him -alone. He hated to believe that Mexico actually was whipping the United -States. But he and the few other Americans stranded here did not dare -to say anything. - -Now that the North Americans (as they were called) had been driven out, -in the north, very likely they would try to invade Mexico at another -point. Yes, no doubt they might be foolish enough to try Vera Cruz, -hoping to march even to the City of Mexico from this direction! Of -course, the notion was absurd, for the City of Mexico was two hundred -and eighty miles by road, and on the other side of the mountains. So -the Vera Cruzans laughed and bragged. - -“No hay cuidado, no hay cuidado! Somos muy valientes. Es una ciudad -siempre heroica, esta Vera Cruz de nosotros,” they said. Or, in other -words; “No fear, no fear! We are very brave. It is a city always -heroic, this Vera Cruz of ours.” - -“That is right,” had agreed old Manuel and young Manuel, with whom -Jerry lived and worked. “If those North Americans wish to come, let -them try. We have two hundred great guns on the walls, and three -hundred in the castle――some of them the largest in the world. Yes, and -five thousand soldiers, and the brave General Morales to lead us.” - -“The Vera Cruz walls are ten feet thick, and those of the castle are -fifteen feet thick,” old Manuel added. “Cannon balls stick fast; that -is all.” - -“The guns will kill at two miles,” young Manuel added. “Never once have -those North American ships dared to come within reach. The commander -at the castle laughs. He says to the American commander: ‘Bring on -your fleet. You may fire all your shot at us and we will not take the -trouble to reply. We only despise you.’” - -“Así es――that is so,” grunted old Manual. “The castle has stood there -for two hundred and fifty years. Please God, it will stand there two -hundred and fifty more years, for all that those Yahnkee savages can -do.” - -It was true that the American fighting ships had stayed far out from -shore. They cruised back and forth, preventing supplies from being -brought in. That was a blockade, but Vera Cruz did not care. It had -plenty to eat. It went about its business: the fishing boats of the -native Indians caught vast quantities of fish in the harbor, the -ranches raised cattle and vegetables and fruits, and peons or laborers -like the two Manuels cut fagots and carried loads of it on their burros -into town, to sell as cooking fuel. - -Thus it happened that Jerry, who worked hard with the two Manuels for -his living, was out here amidst the sand hills, as usual, on this -bright morning of March 9, 1847. - -These sand hills fringed all the beach on both sides of the city, and -extended inland half a mile. The winter gales or northers piled them up -and moved them about. Some of them were thirty feet high――higher than -the walls of the city. From their crests one could look right into Vera -Cruz. They were grown between, and even to their tops, with dense brush -or chaparral, of cactus and thorny shrubs, forming regular jungles; and -there were many stagnant lagoons that bred mosquitoes and fevers. - -From the city the National Road ran out, heading westward for the City -of Mexico, those two hundred and eighty miles by horse and foot. - -To-day, of all the flags flying off shore scarcely one was the American -flag. The American warships had disappeared entirely, unless that sloop -tacking back and forth several miles out might be American. At first it -had been thought that the Yankees had grown discouraged by the news of -the defeats of their armies on land, and now did not know what to do. -The very sight of the grim castle of San Juan de Ulloa had made them -sick at their stomachs, the Vera Cruzans declared. But the reports from -Anton Lizardo had changed matters. - -The morning passed quietly, with the flags of the city and castle――flags -banded green, white and red and bearing an eagle on a cactus in the -center――floating gaily, defying the unseen Americans. At noon the two -Manuels and Jerry ate their small lunch, and drank water from a hole dug -near a shallow lagoon. Then, about two o’clock, old Manuel, who had -straightened up for a breath and to ease his back, uttered a loud cry. - -“Mira! See! The Americans are coming again!” - -He was gazing to the east, down the coast. Young Manuel and Jerry -gazed, squinting through the chaparral. Out at sea, to the right of the -little island Sacrificios, there had appeared against the blue sky a -long column of ships, their sails shining whitely. They came rapidly -on, bending to the gentle breeze, and swinging in directly for the -island anchorage. Scrambling like a monkey, old Manuel hustled for a -high, clear place and better view; young Manuel and Jerry followed. - -The foremost were ships of war; they looked too trim and large, and -kept in too good order, for merchantmen, and they held their positions, -in the lead and on the flanks, as if guarding. But what a tremendous -fleet this was――sail after sail, until the ships, including several -steamers, numbered close to one hundred! Soon the flags were plain: the -red-and-white striped flags of the United States, streaming gallantly -from the mast ends. - -“The Americans!” young Manuel scoffed. “They want another beating? They -think to frighten us Vera Cruzanos? Bah! We will show them. We are -ready. See?” - -That was so. How quickly things had happened! As if by a miracle the -sea wall of Vera Cruz was alive with people clustered atop; yes, and -people were gathering upon all the roofs, and even in the domes of -the churches. From this distance they were ants. The news had spread -very fast. The notes of the army bugles sounded faintly, rallying the -gunners to the batteries. - -Now out at the anchorage near Sacrificios the mastheads and the yards -of the foreign men of war and the other vessels, from England, France, -Spain, Prussia, Germany, Italy, were heavy with sailors clustered like -bees, watching the approach of the American fleet. - -Straight for Sacrificios the fleet sped, silent and beautiful, before -a steady six-knot breeze which barely ruffled the gulf. A tall frigate -(the American flagship _Raritan_) forged to the fore, and in its wake -there glided a vessel squat and bulky, leaving a trail of black smoke. - -“Un barco de vapor――a steamboat!” - -“Yes, yes! But it has no paddles――it moves like a snake!” - -“No matter,” said old Manuel. “Everybody knows that the North Americans -are in league with the Evil One. Only the Evil One could make a boat to -move without paddles. But the saints will protect us.” - -“They are bringing soldiers!” young Manuel cried. “Look! The decks of -the warships are crowded!” - -The American warships all forged to the fore; in line behind the tall -_Raritan_ and the smoking new steamer (which was only a propeller) they -filed past the foreign ships at the Sacrificios anchorage, and about a -mile from the beach they cast anchor also. Now it might be seen that -each ship had towed a line of rowboats, and that every deck was indeed -crowded with soldiers, for muskets and bayonets flashed, uniforms -glittered, bands played, and a clatter and hum drifted with the music -to the shore. - -The merchant ships stayed outside the anchorage, as if waiting. There -seemed to be seventy-five or eighty of them; too many for the space -inside. - -The warships lost no time. Small launches instantly began to tow the -rowboats to their gangways; soldiers began to descend―――― - -“What! They are going to land here, on our beach of Collado?” old -Manuel gasped. - -“No! Viva, viva!” young Manuel cheered. “Our brave soldiers are there, -waiting! Viva, viva!” - -“Now we shall see!” And old Manuel cheered, waving his ragged hat. -“There will be a battle. Maybe we shall have to run.” - -From the brush and sand hills a troop of Mexican lancers, in bright -uniforms of red caps and red jackets and yellow capes, had cantered -down to the open beach, their pennons flapping, their lance tips -gleaming. They rode and waved defiantly, daring the Americans to come -ashore. - -A row of little flags broke out from the mizzen mast of the _Raritan_. -At once two gunboat steamers and five sloops of war left the squadron, -they ploughed in, a puff of whitish smoke jetted from the bows of a -gunboat, and as quick as a wink another puff burst close over the heads -of the lancer troop. Boom-boom! - -The gay lancers, bending low in their saddles, scudded like mad back -into the sand hills and the brush, with another shell peppering their -heels. - -“Hurrah! Hurrah!” Jerry cheered, for it looked as though that beach was -going to be kept clear. - -He got such a box on the ear that it knocked him sprawling and set his -head to ringing. - -“You shut up!” old Manuel scolded. “You little American dog, you! Your -Americans are cowards. They dare not land and fight. They think to -stand off out at sea and fight. The miserable gringos from the north! -That’s the Mexican name for them: gringos. You understand?” - -No, Jerry did not understand. “Gringo” was a new word――a contempt -word recently invented by the Mexicans, when they spoke of the North -Americans――his Americans. But he wasn’t caring, now; he was wild with -the box on the ear, and the sight of the United States soldiers. Boxes -on the ear never had angered him so, before. It was pretty hard to be -cuffed, here in front of the Flag; cuffed by the enemies of the Flag. - -“That isn’t so,” he snarled hotly. “They aren’t cowards. You’ll see. -They’ll land where they please. _And all your army and guns can’t keep -them off._ Then they’ll walk right over your walls.” - -[Illustration: “AND ALL YOUR ARMY AND GUNS CAN’T KEEP THEM OFF”] - -“Shut up!” young Manuel bawled, and cuffed him on the other side of the -head. “Of course they are cowards. They’ve been beaten many times by -our brave men. Your General Taylor has been captured. He dressed like a -woman and tried to hide. Now your gringos are so afraid that they think -to land out of reach of our cannon. If they do land, what will they do? -Nothing. The minute they come closer the guns of the castle will blow -them to pieces.” - -“Yes; and soon the yellow fever will kill them. They will find -themselves in a death-trap,” old Manuel added. “Bah! Our brave General -Morales may let them land. He sees how foolish they are. All he needs -do is to wait. Where can they go? Nowhere! They will fight mosquitoes. -That is it: they are come to fight the mosquitoes!” - -Jerry saw that there was no use in arguing; not with two men whose -hands were heavy, and who preferred to believe lies. They did not know -American soldiers and sailors. - -The cannon of the city and castle had not yet spoken, but the walls -of San Juan de Ulloa, like those of Vera Cruz, a little nearer, were -thronged with people, watching. And that was a busy scene, yonder -toward Sacrificios. The two gunboats and the five sloops cruised -lazily only eight hundred yards out from the beach, their guns trained -upon it; the sailors stood prepared at the pieces, and spy-glasses, -pointed at the beach, occasionally flashed with light. Well it was, -thought Jerry, that he and the two Manuels were securely hidden. He did -not wish an American shot coming his way. But there, beyond the seven -patrol boats, the rowboats were being loaded at the gangways of the -men-of-war; for the soldiers of his country evidently were determined -to land. - -Boat after boat, crammed to the gunwales with men, left the gangways, -was pulled a short distance clear, and lay to. - -“How many boats?” young Manuel uttered. “Many, many. It is wonderful.” - -“And a crazy idea,” old Manuel insisted, “to land here where the ships -cannot follow, right in sight of Vera Cruz. But the more the better; -the yellow fever will have a feast, and so will the vultures.” - -The loading of the boats took two hours. The sun was almost set when -the last one appeared to have been filled. No shot had been fired by -the Mexican batteries. Suddenly a great cheer rang from the ships -and the boats; yes, even from the English, and French and Spanish -ships. The boats had started; they were coming in at last, and a brave -spectacle they made: a half-circle more than three-quarters of a mile -front, closing upon the beach, with oars flashing and bayonets gleaming -and the trappings of the officers glinting, all in the crystal air of -sunset, upon the smooth sea. The breeze had died down, as if it, too, -were astonished; but above the boats a myriad seagulls swerved and -screamed. - -Five, ten, twenty, forty, sixty, sixty-seven! Sixty-seven surf-boats -each holding seventy-five or one hundred soldiers! Sixty-seven -surf-boats, and one man-of-war gig! - -“Sainted Mary! Where did the Americans get them all?” old Manuel gasped. - -Jerry thrilled with pride. Hurrah! He was an American boy, and those -were American ships and American boats, manned by American soldiers and -American sailors, under the American flag. He shivered a little with -fear, also; for when the guns of the castle and the city began to throw -their shells, what would happen to those blue-coated men, helpless upon -the bare beach of Collado? - -The music from the bands in the boats and upon the ships sounded -plainly. The bands were playing “Yankee Doodle,” “Hail, Columbia!” and -“The Star-Spangled Banner.” Even the dip of the oars from the sixty and -more boats, pulled by sailors, sounded like a tune of defiance, as the -blades rose and fell and the oar-shafts thumped in their sockets. - -Splash, splash, chug, chug, all together in a measured chant; and still -the guns of the city and castle were silent, biding their time. - -Now it was a race between the boats, to see which should land its men -first. The sailors were straining at the oars; the figures of the -soldiers――their bristling muskets, their cross-belts and cartridge -boxes, their haversacks――were clear; their officers might be picked -out, and also the naval officers, one in the stern of each boat, urging -the rowers. - -The gig beat. One hundred yards from the beach it grounded. It scarcely -had stopped when a fine, tall officer leaped overboard into the water -waist deep; with his sword drawn and waved and pointed he surged for -the shore. He wore a uniform frock coat, with a double row of buttons -down the front and with large gold epaulets on the shoulders. Upon his -head was a cocked hat; and as he gained the shallows the gold braid -of his trousers seams showed between boots and skirts. He was of high -rank, then; perhaps a general――perhaps the general of the whole army! -And his face had dark side-whiskers. - -Close behind him there hurried a soldier with the flag. All the men, -mainly officers, his staff, had leaped overboard; and from the other -boats, fast and faster, the men were leaping, and surging in, and in, -holding their muskets and cartridge boxes high, and cheering. - -“Boom!” A cannon shot! Smoke floated from the bastion fort of Santiago, -in the nearest corner of the city walls, three miles up the shore; but -the ball must have fallen short. - -“Boom!” A great gun in San Juan castle, three miles and a half, had -tried. By the spurt of sand this ball also was short. - -“We’d better get out of here,” old Manuel rapped. “To the city! Quick! -The Americans are surely landing. We don’t want to have our ears cut -off; and we don’t want to be blown up, either. The guns are beginning; -they are playing for the dance.” - -“Yes; and you come, too, you little gringo,” young Manuel exclaimed, -grabbing Jerry by the arm. “We’ll not have you running to those other -gringos and telling them tales.” - -Away scuttled old Manuel and young Manuel, dragging Jerry and shoving -him before them while they followed narrow trails amidst the dunes and -the thick, thorny brush. Presently they all heard another hearty shout -from a thousand and more throats; but it was not for them. - -Pausing and looking back they saw the whole broad beach blue with the -American uniforms; flags of blue and gold were fluttering――a detachment -of the soldiers had marched to the very top of one high dune and had -planted the Stars and Stripes. Already some of the boats were racing -out to the ships, for more soldiers. The bands upon the shore were -playing “The Star-Spangled Banner” again. - -“Hurrah!” - -“Shut up, gringito (little gringo)!” - -“You will sing another tune if you don’t take care. There!” And Jerry -received a third and fourth cuff. “Your soldiers are cowards. They land -out of reach of the guns. And now maybe we have lost our burro.” - -“Why don’t you go back for it, then?” Jerry demanded. “Why don’t your -own soldiers march out and stop the soldiers of my country?” - -“Because we Mexicans are too wise. The Americans never can get near -the city. Why should we waste any lives on them? Now you come along, -gringito.” - -And Jerry had to go, wild with rage and hot with hopes. - -The balls from the city and castle were falling short; the patrol -vessels and the soldiers and sailors paid no attention to them; but -from all the ranches and fields and huts outside the city walls the -people were hastening in, for protection. This was another sight: those -men, women and children, carrying bundles, and driving laden donkeys, -and chattering, threatening, bragging and laughing. - -Hustling on, Jerry and the two Manuels joined with the rest, crossing -the open strip a half a mile wide, bordering the walls, and pushing in -through the gate on this side, named the Gate of Mexico and commanded -by batteries. - -Inside the city there were hubbub and excitement. The broad paved -streets of the down-town among the two-story stone buildings were -crowded as on a feast day. Bugles were pealing, drums were beating, -soldiers in the bright blue and white of the infantry and the red and -green of the artillery were marching hither thither, lancers in their -red and yellow clattered through, while the roof-tops and the church -belfries above swarmed with gazers. - -Nobody showed much fear. - -“Wait, until the cannon get the range.” - -“Or until the northers bury the gringos in the sand!” - -“And then the vomito, the yellow fever! That is our best weapon.” - -“Indeed, yes. All we Vera Cruzanos need do is to wait.” - -The northers, as everybody should know, were the terrific winds that -blew in the winter and early spring; they blew so fiercely, from the -gulf and a clear sky, that anyone lying for a few moments in the sand -would be covered up. Neither man nor beast could face a norther, there -in the open where the sand drifted like snow. - -And the vomito, or yellow fever! Ay de mi! That was worse. It came in -the spring as soon as the northers ceased and stayed all summer. Some -days and nights it appeared like a yellow mist, rising from the lagoons -of the coast and spreading toward the city; men and women and children -died by the hundreds, even in the city streets, so that the buzzards -feasted on the bodies. The City of the Dead: this was the name for Vera -Cruz during the vomito season. Everyone who was able fled to the higher -country inland, and stayed there above the vomito fog. - -Until ten o’clock this night the American boats landed the American -soldiers; by token of the twinkling lights and the distant shouts the -beach was occupied for a mile of length, and the bivouacs extended back -into the dunes. - - - - -II - -A SURPRISE FOR VERA CRUZ - - -“Boom!” - -It was such a tremendous explosion that it shook the solid buildings -of the city. It also brought Jerry upon his feet, all standing, where -he had been asleep for the night in a vacant niche against a stone -warehouse. A great many of the people slept this night in the open air, -just where they chanced to be, so that they might miss no excitement. - -The explosion awakened them all. There was a rush for good viewpoints; -perhaps the battle had begun. Right speedily Jerry had scrambled atop -the wall at a place between batteries, from which he could see the -harbor and the Americans’ beach eastward. Nobody objected to him, here. - -“Boom――_Boom!_” A double explosion well-nigh knocked him backward. A -cloud of black smoke had spurted from the walls of San Juan de Ulloa -castle, a quarter of a mile before; but yonder amidst the sand hills -the louder “_Boom!_” had raised a much greater, blacker smoke, where -the shell had burst. - -The people upon the wall cheered. - -“Viva, viva!” - -“Now we shall see. San Juan is speaking with his giants.” - -“Yes, the Paixhans,” said a Volunteer. “It is the Paixhans that he is -turning loose, to blow the Yankees up. Viva!” - -The Paixhan guns were large pieces that threw shells in a line, instead -of solid shot or high-sailing bombs like the mortars. - -“Boom!” from the castle; and in a moment, “_Boom!_” from the thickets -of the dunes. The smoke jetted angrily; the people imagined that they -could see brush and trees and bodies flying through the air; but just -how much damage was being done no one might say, because most of the -American army was out of sight, concealed in the wilderness of the -jungle. - -General Morales, commanding the city and castle, had issued a -proclamation calling upon the soldiers and citizens to rally for the -defense. All this day the American boats, large and small, plied back -and forth between the fleet and the shore, out of range, bringing in -horses and mules and cannon and supplies; when the cannon had been -landed, soldiers and sailors fell to like ants and helped the long -teams drag them across the beach, into the sand hills. The larger part -of the army had been swallowed by the chaparral; but now and again -a column of blue-uniformed men could be sighted, winding through a -cleared spot, as if gradually encircling the city on the land side. - -All day the city forts and outworks and the castle pitched round-shot -and shell into the dunes. There were several little battles when the -Mexican lancers and infantry outposts met the American advance. A -number of wounded Mexican soldiers were carried in; but the American -flags kept coming on, bobbing here and there, bound inland. - -“To-morrow it will blow,” the weather prophets asserted, noting the -yellow sunset. “A norther! Then those gringos will wish they were -somewhere else.” - -“Yes, that is so.” - -Sure enough, about noon the next day (which had dawned calm), far out -at sea a sharp, vivid line of white appeared, approaching rapidly. - -“The norther! Hurrah! It is the norther!” - -A norther never had been so welcomed before. The shipping was -frantically lowering sails and putting out storm anchors. The war -vessels at Sacrificios were riding under bare poles. The line of white -reached them――they bowed to it, their masts sweeping almost to the -water. On it came, at prodigious speed, in a front miles long. The -white was foam, whipped feathery by wind. Suddenly all the shipping in -the harbor was in a confusion of scud; the few American small boats -plying between war vessels and beach were striving desperately, and -see! The dunes had been veiled in a cloud of yellow dust driven by the -gale. - -The change was miraculous. So strong was the wind that it cleaned the -walls of people. Like the rest, Jerry crouched in shelter, while the -gale howled overhead. - -The dunes were completely shut from view by the cloud of scud and sand. -Firing from the city and castle ceased. There was nothing to do but -wait and let the norther work. Somewhere under that sand cloud the -Americans crouched also, fighting for breath and to keep from being -buried. Here in Vera Cruz everybody was safe and happy, except Jerry -Cameron. He was safe, but he was sorry for those other Americans, -although he did not dare to say so. - -It was a bad norther. It blew without a pause for two nights and days. -Then, about noon of the third day, which was March 13, it quit about as -suddenly as it had arrived. It left the ocean tossing with white caps -and thundering against the sea-wall and upon the beach, but the air -over the dunes cleared and all eyes peered curiously to see what had -become of the American army. - -Why, the flags were nearer! Some of them fluttered at the very inside -edge of the hills, not much more than half a mile away, across the open -space which skirted the city walls. There were signs that the ground -was being dug out, as if for batteries. As soon as the ocean quieted a -little, the boats again hustled back and forth, landing more guns and -supplies. The forts and castle fired furiously at the American camps. -But the Americans had not been stopped by the norther and they were not -to be stopped by shot and shell. - -Now more than a week passed in this kind of business, with the city and -castle firing, and with the Mexican soldiers skirmishing in the brush -to annoy the gringos, and with the Americans doing little by day, but -each night creeping nearer. One morning a strange new token was to be -sighted. To the south the ground had been upheaved, during the night, -out from the edge of the dunes, and a line of earth extended like a -mole-run into the cleared space. The Americans were burrowing. - -The city forts lustily bombarded the place and evidently drove the -Americans out of the trench, for there was no reply. In fact, very few -gringos were seen, but their flags might be glimpsed, farther back. -Where were their cannon? - -After this fresh burrows appeared frequently. Still there was no firing -by the American cannon. What was being done, in that brush, none of the -Vera Cruzans could say from such a distance. Only―――― - -“It will be a siege,” the wise-acres nodded. “Very well. We shall wait -until the vomito comes. The vomito will fight for us, in the sand hills -where our brave soldiers cannot go. The yellow fever will find those -skulking gringos, who dare not attack us.” - -Then, about two o’clock of March 22, after the Americans had been -digging and dragging cannon for almost two weeks, and had advanced -their flags in a complete half circle around the city, excitement -rose again. A Yankee officer and two other men, bearing a white flag, -had ridden out from among the dunes and were boldly cantering forward -across the flat strip, for the southern Gate of Mexico. - -The three were received by a Mexican officer sent by General Morales. -Word spread that the American general, named Scott, demanded the -surrender of Vera Cruz! He gave two hours for an answer. - -General Morales did not require the two hours. Before the time was up, -back went the flag of truce, while the soldiers loudly cheered when -they learned that he had refused to surrender. If the Americans wished -to try a battle, let them start in; they all would die without having -reached the walls; and as for breaching the walls with their cannon, -that was impossible. - -Four o’clock had been the limit set by the American general, Scott. -Usually Vera Cruz slept from noon until four; all Mexico took its -siesta then: stores were closed and shutters drawn and nobody stirred -abroad; in Vera Cruz even the water carriers who cried “Water! Pure -water!” on the streets, dozed like the rest. And by this time, two -weeks, the people had grown accustomed to the guns, so that they slept -right through. - -But this afternoon the city waked early, and by four o’clock the roof -tops and the walls were thick with spectators watching to see what -would happen. Ragged Jerry gazed with the others. He had paid no -attention to the two Manuels. There had been no fagot gathering, and -little other business except talk. - -The sea was smooth; the ships swung at anchor under a blue sky; out -at Sacrificios island, four miles distant to the east, the Stars and -Stripes languidly flapped from the mast ends of the men-of-war; the -sand dunes shimmered yellow, buzzards circled above them and the -chaparral which flowed into the flat strip――the buzzards might see the -American army, but few persons in the city could. Nevertheless, from -the east clear around into the west the faint sounds of the burrowing -blue coats drifted in. - -There was no sign of any charge. Then, at four o’clock precisely, from -a spot half a mile out, between the city and Collado Beach, a sudden -great belch of black smoke issued; a black speck streaked high through -the sky, fell――and there was a resounding crash and a mighty shock, -from an explosion in the very center of the city. The clatter of -stones followed. - -Next, while the people gazed at each other, astounded, in the southeast -the chaparral was drowned by a perfect torrent of the same smoke, -blasts of air rocked the very walls and buildings, all the city shook -to explosion after explosion mingled. Several shells had arrived at -once; the air was filled with dust and shrieks. - -Vera Cruz was being bombarded. The bastion guns boomed hotly, replying; -the great guns of the castle chimed in; the chaparral was being torn -to pieces. But so was the city; and out in the roadstead the two steam -gunboats and the five sloops of war veered nearer and from a mile away -began to shoot, also, at the city and the castle both. - -The battle had opened. The Americans were firing only seven mortars; -that was all――seven. Where were their other cannon? Stuck in the sand -and brush, as like as not. The seven mortars were hard to see, but the -city forts and the castle would bury them. As for those little ships a -mile at sea, one shot from San Ulloa would sink any of them. - -However, the mortars stuck to it. They kept firing all night, while it -was too dark for the forts and the castle to answer. There was no sleep -for Vera Cruz――not amidst that steady “Boom! Boom! Boom!” and “Crash! -Crash! Crash!”, with showers of iron and rock flying far and wide into -all parts of the city. - -In the morning ten mortars were at work. The forts and San Ulloa -spouted smoke and flame in vain. The walls had not been hurt; but what -with the booming, and the crashing, and the yelling and running, -assuredly Vera Cruz was no place in which to stay. Jerry resolved to -get out before he, an American boy, was killed by shots from his own -country. - -This afternoon another norther set in, as if to help Vera Cruz. It -silenced the mortars, and drove the American gunners to cover. Nobody -could see to shoot in such a dust storm. The people were happy over it. -They knew that the northers and the yellow fever would come to their -rescue. The Americans were crazy, their guns useless, their trenches -would be filled faster than they could be dug. But to Jerry the norther -looked like a lucky stroke for one American, at least. To slip over the -walls and sneak across the flat strip and enter the American camp would -be as easy as――well, as cutting a watermelon. - - - - -III - -THE AMERICANS GAIN A RECRUIT - - -The norther was making things uncomfortable in the city as well as -outside. The streets were lashed by howling wind, and raked by sand and -bits of clay; loosened stones crashed to the pavement, threatening the -few people who scuttled around the corners; and when the thick dusk -gathered early Vera Cruz seemed deserted. But if matters were bad here, -what must they be yonder, out in the open? - -Jerry was going to know, pretty soon. It was time that he left Vera -Cruz. He did not belong in Vera Cruz, where Americans were disliked. It -was the enemy’s country. The two Manuels had housed him in their shack, -and had fed him, but only because he worked for them. He had not seen -them this day――did not wish ever to see them again; they had cuffed him -on the ears, they thought little of slapping him about. He had stayed -with them because there was nothing else for him to do. But now his own -people had arrived to teach these Mexicans a lesson; had brought the -Flag right to the doorway of Mexico, and were knocking for admittance. - -If they really did not get in――of course they would get in, but -supposing they didn’t, and had to go away and try at another place! -Supposing, as the Vera Cruzans said, the walls held out against the -cannon, and the yellow fever raged, then he would be stranded the same -as before. It was a long, long way from Vera Cruz to the United States. - -So this was the time to make a dash for freedom, while the way was -short and the norther blew. - -At eight o’clock the darkness was dense with the smother of dust. -Nobody saw him as he ran low like a rabbit, tacking from building to -building and corner to corner, until he had reached the wall at a place -nearest to the American cannon. The wall was twelve feet high, here; at -intervals it was built into batteries, jutting outside and inside both; -but to-night even the sentries had been forced under cover. - -The wall was very old; there were sections where it had crumbled and -could be climbed easily enough by means of toe-holds and finger-holds. -All the boys of Vera Cruz knew that old wall perfectly; and it was used -as a promenade also by men and women who strolled upon the wide top. - -The American cannon had done little damage to it yet. The mortar bombs -all passed over, to land in the city. But Jerry remembered a spot where -he often had climbed before, in fun――and to show the Vera Cruzans that -their wall could not keep a boy in. - -He had to guess at the spot, in the wind and the darkness. When he -thought that he was there, he shinned up. Here the wind struck him full -blast, and whew! He had to lie flat and crawl, clutching fast with -fingers and toes, feeling his way, and fairly plastered to the rough -top. If once he raised up, away he would go like a leaf; for that wind -certainly meant business. - -At last, feeling ahead, he came to the crumbled edge. And now, -cautiously swinging about, he prepared to slide over feet first. If -this was the right spot, he would land outside after a slide of only -about ten feet. But how to tell? There wasn’t any way. It might be that -this was not the right place at all, and he would drop straight down -more than ten feet and break a leg. Still, he was bound to try. So he -backed like a crab, farther and farther, exploring with his toes; he -was over the edge, he was clinging with his knees and hands and barking -his shins――and on a sudden the edge gave under his fingers and down he -slithered, fast and faster, all in the darkness, with clatter and rasp -and scrape, until――thump! - -No, it had not been the exact spot. Maybe by daylight he wouldn’t have -risked such a long slide, on his stomach. But his clothes could not be -hurt――a few more rags made no difference, and he was all right. - -He had landed on his back in the dry moat or ditch which skirted the -bottom of the wall. Under his feet there was a heap of mortar from -the wall, and a stiff bush had almost skewered him. He picked himself -up, to claw out. In a moment the wind struck him full, again――sent -him reeling and sprawling, and stung his cheek with sand and pebbles. -Somewhere before him there lay the dunes and the American camp; but -he could not see a thing, he had to cross the flat, brushy strip half -a mile wide, and unless he kept his wits sharpened he would get all -turned around. - -Well, the wind was his only guide; it hit him quartering, from the left -or gulf side――came like a sheet of half-solid air, to flatten him. -Leaning against it he bored on, trying to go in a straight line. Ouch! -Cactus! And more cactus. Ouch! A large thorny bush. Ouch! A hollow into -which he stepped with a grunt. - -The plain was a whirlpool of whistling wind and blinding sand that took -his breath and blistered his cheek. The cactus stabbed him, the brush -tripped him; every little while he had to sit down and rest. One lone -boy seemed a small figure in the midst of that great storm, black with -murk, especially when he wasn’t dead certain that he was heading right. - -That was a tremendously long half mile. Was he never going to get to -the other edge? Perhaps he would be better off if he stayed in one -spot and waited for morning. No; then he would be caught between two -fires――might be shot by one side or the other, or else captured by -prowling Mexican soldiers. - -After a while the wind slackened a little; the air cleared, and so did -the sky. A moon peeped forth from the overhead scud. He thought that -he could see the dunes, in a dim line, and he pushed on for them as -fast as he could. He ought to be drawing near to them, by this time, -for Vera Cruz lay hours behind him, according to the way his legs ached -from his stumblings and zigzaggings. - -Here came the wind, again――in a terrific blast as if it had been only -taking breath, too. The moon vanished, everything vanished, and he was -blinded by the dust once more. - -Then, quite unexpectedly, as he was leaning and gasping and blundering -on, breaking through the brush and never minding the cactus, he ran -against a mound of sand. He sort of crawled up this, clawing his -way――the wind seized him, on top, hurled him forward, and down he -pitched, headfirst, into a hole on the other side. - -This time he landed upon something soft and alive. It grabbed him -tightly in two arms and he heard a voice in good sailor American: - -“Shiver my timbers! Belay there, whoever you be. Hey, maties! Stand by -to repel boarders! They’re entering by the ports.” - -“No, no! I’m a boy――I’m an American!” Jerry panted. “There’s nobody -else.” - -“A boy? Bless my bloomin’ eyes.” The grip relaxed, but the voice -growled. “Wot d’you foul my hawser for, when I’m snugged under for the -night, with storm anchors out?” - -“I didn’t mean to,” Jerry stammered. - -“Who are you, then? Wot’s your rating? Answer quick, and no guff.” - -“I’m nobody ’special――I’m Jerry Cameron. I’ve run away from Vera Cruz.” - -“Under bare poles, too, by the feel of you. You’re a bloody spy, eh?” - -“No, I’m not,” Jerry implored. “I’m an American, I told you.” - -“Where’s the rest of your boarding crew?” - -“There aren’t any.” - -“Does your mother know you’re out?” - -“She’s dead. So’s my father.” - -“Now if you’re one o’ them young limbs o’ drummer boys, playing a game -on me――――” - -“I’m not,” Jerry declared. - -“Wot do you want here?” - -“I want to join the army.” - -“The army! Get out, then. Don’t you go taking this for any landlubber -mess. Avast with you! Port your helm and sheer off.” And the clutch -loosened. - -“But where am I, please?” Jerry asked, bewildered. - -“Wait till I put a half hitch on you and I’ll tell you; for if you’re -putting up a game you’ll be hanged to the yardarm at sunrise. That’s -regulations. Lie quiet, now. I’m hungry and I’m a reg’lar bloomin’ -cannerbal.” - -A cord was deftly passed about Jerry’s slim waist, tightened, tied, -and apparently fastened to his captor also――who growled again as if -satisfied. Flint and steel were struck, and a lantern lighted――a -lantern enclosed in a wire netting――a battle lantern. It was flashed -upon Jerry, and at the same time flashed upon his captor. He saw a very -red face――a dirty face but a good-natured face, under a shock of tow -hair; and a pair of broad shoulders encased in a heavy woollen jacket. -Two bright blue eyes surveyed him. - -“A bloomin’ bloody stowaway,” the man growled, not unkindly. “That’s -wot! Well, wot you want to know?” - -“Where am I, if this isn’t the army?” Jerry pleaded. - -“The army be blowed,” answered the man. “This is the navy, young -feller. Bless my eye, but you’re in the naval battery, as you’ll soon -find out, and so’ll those bloody dons when we open up in the morning.” - -“Yes, sir. But I think I’d like to stay, anyway,” said Jerry; for he -was down under the wind, and he was very tired. - -“Right-o, my hearty.” The man untied the rope. “Now we can lie yard and -yard, but mind you keep quiet, ’cause I’m dead for sleep. One wiggle, -and out you go. All quiet below decks. That’s discipline and them’s -man-o’-war orders.” - -The sailor turned down the lantern, and settled himself with a grunt. - - - - -IV - -JERRY MAKES A TOUR - - -The norther certainly was slackening off, as if it had blown itself -out. The wind died to a fitful breeze, and this itself finally ceased. -There was a dead calm. Overhead the stars sparkled again. It seemed to -be a great relief to everything――this calm, after the lashing and the -howling and the general strain. Only the gulf surf roared dully in the -distance. - -Now voices sounded, right and left and behind, as if the American camp -had aroused and the men were issuing from their coverts. They had -weathered the storm. Jerry carefully raised, to look. He could see -the occasional flash of a lantern. Then he lay down. In the calm he -was more exhausted than ever. That had been a tough trail through the -brush, fighting the wind at every step. Before he knew, he was asleep, -beside the snoring sailor; and the next that he knew, he was awakened -into gray dawn by a bustle around him. - -Where was he? Oh, yes; he was safe with the Americans. So he got up, -shook himself, and took stock. - -He was still out in the plain, instead of at the edge of the dunes; the -trench which sheltered him was six feet wide and the same in depth, -and was screened by brush outside the dirt thrown out. It ran right -and left, as if connecting with other trenches. Figures of sailors -and their officers hurried back and forth, scarcely noticing him. -There were gruff orders. He had to see what was going on; so he fell -in with the busy files, and in a moment he had arrived at the breech -of an enormous cannon, surrounded by sailors stripped to the waist and -tugging and heaving to move the cannon into place. - -Beyond it there was another cannon, already in place, its muzzle -pointing out through sandbags, its squatty solid iron frame resting -upon little wheels which fitted a pair of iron rails bolted to a plank -turn-table upon a platform. Beyond that was still another great gun. -And to the rear there was the sand-bagged roof of a low hut, sunk -deeply almost on the level with the surface of the ground. This was a -battery, then; and that probably was the powder house――the magazine. -And all had been dug out, and erected, here, between the dunes and Vera -Cruz, in point-blank range of the walls! - -By the hurry and bustle something was going to happen very soon. A -smart naval officer in blue and gold, with sword drawn, was overseeing -the work of setting the first gun into position. A boatswain, his shirt -open upon his hairy chest and a whistle dangling at the end of a cord, -was bossing. Everybody was a sailor, so it must be the naval battery. - -The boatswain saw Jerry staring; and he stared likewise. - -“Hi! What you doin’ here, young ’un?” - -“Just watching,” said Jerry. - -“Where you from?” - -“Vera Cruz. But I’m an American.” - -“Shiver my tops’ls!” uttered the boatswain; and the other sailors -briefly paused to wipe their brows and grin. “A bloomin’ American from -Very Cruz.” He saluted the officer. “Recruit for the navy, sir. What -shall I do with him?” - -“Send him to the rear. This is no place for boys,” rapped the officer. -“What’s your name, lad?” - -“Jerry Cameron.” - -“How did you get in here?” - -“I ran away from Vera Cruz last night. I don’t belong there.” - -“Too much Yankee music in that city, eh?” - -“Yes, sir. It’s awful.” - -“Well, it will be worse. If you’ve come to join the band you’ll have to -go to the rear. We can’t take care of you here. Things will open lively -in a short time, now.” - -And as if to prove his words the air shook, a dull boom sounded, a -louder boom rolled from the dunes. Vera Cruz had awakened to action -again. - -“You follow that trench and keep going,” the officer ordered. “March, -before your head’s blown off.” - -“Boom――_Bang!_” A great mass of sand and brush spouted up not fifty -yards to the front, and the shock sent everyone staggering. A shell -from Vera Cruz had landed near indeed. “Boom――_Bang!_” That was -another. The Mexican batteries were trying. - -“Handspikes, there! Put a block under that transom, bo’s’n,” barked the -officer, never noticing. - -“Aye, aye, sir!” The men jumped to their work. Jerry turned and headed -back through the trench. He was glad that he was not to be in Vera Cruz -this day. Those guns looked mean. - -The trench, higher than his crown and wider than he was tall, led -obliquely toward the dunes. To have cut such a trench must have been a -prodigious job――and the queer part was, that from Vera Cruz the work -had not been seen. - -Judging by deep wheel tracks the cannon had been dragged through the -trench, to the front. - -For a little way he met nobody. Now the shells from the city and castle -were bursting all around him, well-nigh deafening him; and from a -distance the American guns were replying. Next, he came to a squad of -sailors, sitting in a side gallery and eating breakfast. They hailed -him. - -“Ahoy! Where bound, young ’un?” - -“Nowhere,” Jerry answered. - -“Heave to, then, and come aboard with your papers. Where you from?” - -“Vera Cruz.” - -“Lay alongside.” So Jerry turned in. “What’s your colors? Speak sharp. -Report to the admiral.” - -“Red, white and blue,” asserted Jerry. - -“Blow me, but he is American, by the cut of his jib,” one of them -exclaimed. “Where’s your convoy, young sloop-o’-war?” - -“Nowhere. I ran away last night.” - -“Homeward bound in ballast. Can’t you see he’s floating clean above -loading mark?” said another. “He’s empty to his keel. Fall to, my -hearty. Line your lockers.” - -They were a jovial party, grimy with sand and sweat, their blue sailor -shirts open, their faces red and their big hands tarry and scarred. -They passed him hard biscuit and meat and a cup of coffee――and every -now and again the earth shook to the explosion of a shell. While -they were asking him questions about himself, and Vera Cruz, and the -Mexicans (for whom they appeared to feel much scorn) there was a fresh -hullaballoo, somewhere in the main trench. Up they sprang, to crowd and -gaze. - -“Another pill-tosser to feed the bloomin’ dons,” they cried. “Hooray!” - -And here, through the trench, there came one of the great naval guns: -first, rounding an elbow, a long double file of sailors, stripped to -the waist, leaning low to a rope and tugging like horses; then the -breech of the gun, then high wheels upon which it had been mounted, -with other sailors wrestling at them; then the immensely long barrel, -with still other sailors pushing at this clear to the muzzle. - -A bo’s’n trudged beside, urging the work. When the gun stuck for a -moment crowbars were thrust under the wheels―― - -“Heave-ho! Together, now! Heave-ho!” - -“Aye, aye! Heave-ho!” - -“Heave, my bullies!” - -And they panted a song: - - “’Way down Rio, Rio, Rio! - ’Way down Rio, Oh!” - -The gun went surging by. - -“We’ll be needed up for’d, maties,” said one of the sailor squad. -“Young ’un, you set your course the direction you were steering.” - -They mopped their mouths with the backs of their tarry fists and -lurched on after the cannon. - -Jerry proceeded. Next, but not much farther, the trench was cut by -another trench, crossing it at right angle and extending without end on -either hand. This trench on right and left was lined with blue-capped, -blue-coated soldiers, crouching low, or daringly peering through -openings they had made in the ridge of sand thrown out in front of the -trench, their long-barreled muskets leaning against the wall, beside -them. Jerry kept on, following the wheel tracks. - -His trench grew shallow; and the wheel tracks wound through low places -amidst the dunes. He left the trench behind him. Next, he began to -see soldiers in squads――messing, shaking their blankets free of sand, -clearing out small trenches that had almost filled during the storm; -and so forth and so forth. And tents, some blown flat and being hoisted -again; and the United States flags, and regimental flags; and stacks of -muskets in rows. - -The soldiers appeared to be of the rough-and-ready order; many of them -bearded or stubbly, their uniforms worn carelessly, their caps set at -an angle; some were barefoot, as if easing their feet; some had on -shoes, and some had one trouser-leg tucked into a boot-top; and several -who seemed ill were sitting enveloped in Mexican blankets. - -They were singing――these soldiers――in groups, as they lolled or worked -at various tasks; singing not very musically, but gaily: - - “Green grow the rushes, O! - Green grow the rushes, O! - The sweetest hours that e’er I spend - Are spent among the lasses, O!” - -That was the chorus of one group nearest to Jerry, as he sidled through -the camp. It was not much of a song, although as good as most of the -Mexican songs. He saw a flag, of blue and gold, which said “First -Tennessee Volunteers.” A soldier was shaking it out from its folds. - -“Well, I’m in the army, anyway,” Jerry thought, to himself. “But I -guess I’ll go on, to the beach, and see what’s there.” - -So although the men hailed him, as the sailors had, only in different -language, he shook his head and did not stop. - -Pretty soon he came to a cleaner camp, within easy sight of the surf -beyond the dunes, and of the ships at anchor off Sacrificios. There -were many soldiers, here, too, but more orderly and better clothed. The -camp appeared to stretch clear to the beach; and while he was wandering -and gazing, somebody challenged him. - -It was another boy, in uniform――a red-headed boy, spick and span and as -smart as a new whip. - -“Hey, you! What you doing?” - -He wore a tight blue jacket and lighter blue trousers; the front of the -jacket was crossed by a lot of red braid, a high collar held his chin -up, upon his head was perched a jaunty blue, red-decorated round cap -with leather visor, and a short sword hung at his right thigh. - -“Nothing special,” Jerry answered back. - -“Come over till I investigate. We don’t allow camp followers in the -lines.” - -Jerry went over. - -“I’m not a camp follower,” he retorted. The soldiers who heard, laughed. - -“Then what’s your regiment?” - -“Haven’t any, yet. I left Vera Cruz only last night.” - -“You did! Huh! That’s a likely yarn. How’d you get into the lines, -then?” - -“Just walked. I skipped out, over the wall, and crossed the plain in -the storm.” - -“What’d you skip out for?” - -“Because I’m an American. I don’t like it in Vera Cruz.” - -“Guess you didn’t. Guess nobody does――and they’ll all like it less, -to-day. We’re to give ’em a jolly good shaking up. Got any folks?” - -“No.” - -“Anybody come with you?” - -“No.” - -“Well, what’s your name?” - -“Jerry Cameron.” - -“That sounds all right. What did you do in Vera Cruz?” - -“Lived there with my father until he died from yellow fever. Then I -worked for two Mexicans, until I had a chance to run away.” - -“Mind you don’t lie.” - -“I’m not lying. Should think you could see I’m American.” - -“Guess you are. Guess you’re O. K., Jerry. I’m Hannibal Moss, drummer -boy, Company A, Eighth United States Infantry,” said the boy, with a -little swagger of importance. “That’s what. Best company in the best -fighting regiment of the whole army. What you intend to do? Join us?” - -“I’d like to, mighty well.” - -“Where’ve you been since you got in?” - -“Out there with the sailors and the big guns. That’s where I landed. -But they sent me back.” - -“Oh, that’s the navy battery. What’d you think of it?” - -“They’re the biggest guns I ever saw.” - -“Guess they are. Guess they’ll fix those dons――blow their walls to -pieces. They’re sixty-eight-pounder shell guns and thirty-two-pounder -solid shot fellows. You bet! The army’s got some just as big, but they -haven’t come yet, so the navy’s going to help us out. We’ve a battery -of twenty-four-pounders out there, though. Only seven hundred yards -from the walls. Wait till you hear the music.” - -“The walls haven’t been hurt yet; or they hadn’t been, when I left,” -said Jerry. - -“That’s because we weren’t ready. We’ve had to use mortars; but -throwing bombs into houses isn’t what we’re here for. Old Fuss and -Feathers――he knows what he’s about. That’s why he called on the navy, -when his own siege guns didn’t arrive. He wants to finish things here -and march on into the mountains before the yellow fever starts up. Say, -it’s been pretty hot in Vera Cruz, hasn’t it, with all those bombs -bursting?” - -“It certainly has,” Jerry answered soberly. “They’ve killed people who -weren’t fighting, and knocked down a lot of houses.” - -“Well, that’s war. The Mexicans ought to have surrendered when they -had a chance. They can surrender any time. All they need do is to -hang out a white flag. Fuss and Feathers is going to take their city. -He doesn’t want their houses, though, and I guess he’s sorry to hurt -non-combatants. The civilians ought to have moved their families out. -After we’ve breached the walls proper and forced terms, we’ll have Vera -Cruz as a base and we’ll march straight to the Halls of Montezuma.” - -“Who’s Fuss and Feathers?” - -Hannibal stared. - -“You don’t know anything about the army, that’s sure. Fuss and Feathers -is Major-General Winfield Scott, commander-in-chief of the United -States army. We call him Fuss and Feathers, for fun. Not when he’s -around, though. M-m-m! You bet not! He’s a stickler for discipline. But -he’ll take us to the Halls of Montezuma.” - -“Where are they, Hannibal!” - -“My eye, you’re green! The Halls of Montezuma are the capitol in the -City of Mexico, of course. Guess you’ve a lot to learn. Want me to show -you about? Maybe I can find you a job if you’re an American. Looks like -you need a suit of clothes――but you aren’t much worse than some of -those Mohawks are already. Come on; let’s walk.” - -“You see, I’m off duty,” Hannibal explained, as he strolled with Jerry -in tow. “We had to work half the night, digging trenches. We just got -back. Golly, but that was a storm, wasn’t it! Filled us up as fast as -we could dig out. But no storms are going to stop this army. Say; do -you know where you are?” - -“In the American army.” - -“Yes, siree, and in the First Division, too. This is Brigadier-General -William J. Worth’s division of Regulars: Fourth Infantry, Fifth -Infantry, Sixth Infantry, Eighth Infantry, Second and Third Artillery. -The Eighth Infantry――that’s my regiment――is in the Second Brigade. -Colonel Clarke’s our commander. Garland’s commander of the First -Brigade. They’re both good men――and so’s General Worth. My eye! Isn’t -he, though! You’re lucky to have struck the Regulars. If you’d stayed -with the Mohawks――my eye!” - -“Who are they, Hannibal?” - -“The Volunteers. We call ’em ‘Mohawks’ because they’re so wild. They’re -General Patterson’s division, the Third: the Palmettos――those are the -South Carolinans; the First and Second Tennessee Mountaineers; the -First and Second Pennsylvania Keystoners; the Second New Yorkers; -the Third and Fourth Illinois Suckers; the Georgia Crackers, and the -Alabamans. Guess they can fight, but they’re awful on discipline. Won’t -even salute their officers. Expect you passed through them on your way -from the naval battery.” - -The sun had risen, flooding all the chaparral and glinting on the gulf -surges beyond the fringing beach. The uproar of the cannon in castle -and city had welled to a deep, angry chorus; the American guns were -answering; the morning air quivered to the quick explosions; and over -city and strip of plain a cloud of black smoke floated higher and -higher, veiling the sun itself. Now and then a piece of shell droned -in, skimming the sand hills and kicking up puffs of dust. A round-shot -of solid iron actually came rolling down a slope and landed at their -very feet. Jerry stooped to feel of it. Ouch! It was still hot. - -“Shucks!” Hannibal laughed. “Put it in your pocket.” He cocked his -cap defiantly. “It’s a dead one. When you’re in your first battle you -think every gun is aimed at you; and after that you don’t care.” - -“You’ve been in other battles, Hannibal?” - -“I should rather say! We’re all veterans, in this division. We were -with Old Zach――he’s General Zachary Taylor――when he licked the dons at -Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma in Texas last May, and we helped take -Monterey in September. We’d have been licking ’em again if we hadn’t -been sent here with Old Fuss and Feathers.” - -“But General Taylor’s been licked since, hasn’t he? At Buena Vista?” - -“He? Old Zach? Do you believe that story? It’s just a Mexican lie. -I wasn’t there, but the New Orleans papers say he wasn’t licked at -all. There can’t anybody lick Old Zach. He just wears his old clothes -and sits his horse sideways, and tells the men: ‘The bayonet, my -hardy cocks!’ When we joined Old Fuss and Feathers we knew he was all -right, too, but we expected to have to dress up and shave. I tell -you, there was hustling. Regulations say that officers’ and men’s -hair has got to be cropped――cut short, you know; whiskers can’t grow -lower than the ears and nobody except the cavalry can wear moustaches. -Old Davy――that’s General David Twiggs of the Second Division of -Regulars――he had a white beard reaching nearly to his waist, and -he shaved it all off and cut his hair. Looked funny, too. But the -regulations aren’t being enforced, after all. We’re in Mexico to fight. -Wait till you see General Worth’s side-whiskers. But let’s climb a -hill, farther front, and lie down, and I’ll show you things. No! Wait a -minute. Listen to that cheering. I guess there’s news. Come on.” - -They ran back, toward the camp. Cheers could be heard――beginning at -the beach edge of the dunes and traveling inward. The soldiers were -running, and gathering. An officer on horseback attended by other -mounted officers was riding slowly on, among the dunes and occasionally -stopping. Whenever he had paused, fresh cheers arose. - -“That’s General Worth, and Captain Mackall, division adjutant,” -Hannibal informed. “Golly! Wonder what’s up. Something special.” - -They hastened until they had joined a crowd of the men, all waiting -expectant, for General Worth and party were coming on. - -“Mind your eye, now,” Hannibal whispered. “If you know how to salute -you’d better do it. You’re with the Regulars.” - -The soldiers stiffened to attention――Hannibal like the rest, and Jerry -trying to imitate. Every hand went to a salute. General Worth was as -fine a looking man as one might ever see――tall and straight in the -saddle, with handsome face, dark complexion, flashing black eyes, and -side-whiskers of graying black. Rode perfectly. - -He halted again, returning the salute. - -“By direction of General Scott you will listen to good news, men,” he -said. - -Whereupon another officer, who evidently was the division adjutant, -unfolded a paper, and read: - - “The commanding general of the Army of Invasion takes prompt - occasion to announce to his fellow soldiers that by battle - of February Twenty-second and Twenty-third, at Buena Vista, - northeastern Mexico, Major-General Zachary Taylor, with a - force of less than forty-five hundred, decisively defeated - the Mexican general Santa Anna and twenty-three thousand of - the best troops of Mexico. The commanding general desires to - congratulate his army upon this great victory of the successful - General Taylor. - - “By command of Major-General Scott. - - “H. L. SCOTT, - “Assistant Adjutant-General.” - -“Huzzah! Huzzah! Huzzah!” cheered the men. - -General Worth and staff rode on, leaving excitement in their wake. - -“I told you so,” Hannibal cried. “Old Zach had mostly Volunteers, too. -But that made no difference. And now you’ve seen Worth. Just like him -to publish those orders this way, instead of waiting for parade. And -fight? Oh, my! I guess _so_!” - -“I’ve seen him before,” Jerry exclaimed, remembering. “He jumped ashore -first when you all landed on the beach.” - -“He did that. The First Division led and his boat beat and he was first -out. But did you see us land? Where were you?” - -“Here in these sand hills, cutting brush.” - -“Wasn’t that a landing, though! We set a record. General Scott and -Commodore Conner of the navy put twelve thousand men ashore in ten -hours, and all we got was wet. Never lost a life. That’s discipline -for you. Whoo-ee! Listen to those guns talk! The dons are right angry -to-day. Guess they’ve discovered those batteries out in front. Come on, -now, if you want to see the fun.” - -They left the camp; trudged fast until they approached the edge of the -dunes, toward the city, crossed a shallow trench or road that wound -along, and climbing to the top of a sand hill were in view of the plain -and the Mexican batteries. A number of soldiers were here, watching. -They had dug little hollows, as a protection from shell fragments. - -The firing had increased. The city and the castle of San Ulloa were -shrouded in the dense smoke; the plain was spouting earth and brush, -but it was spouting smoke and shot and shell also, for American -batteries were replying. And the entrenched line of blue-coats, -supporting the artillery, might be glimpsed. - -“Those dons are trying to find our guns,” asserted Hannibal. “That -plain is full of trenches. Golly, but it was a job to dig them. We -Regulars, and the Mohawks, too, had to work by night, in shifts; and we -got jolly well peppered, you bet. We didn’t dare use lanterns; worked -by the feel, in the cactus and brush, and the northers near smothered -us, besides. We were marched out after dark, and every man grabbed a -spade and his orders were to dig a hole eight feet long and five feet -wide and six feet deep. When the holes were connected they made a ditch -all ’round the city, five miles not counting the sand-bags and parapets -and battery emplacements and caves for magazines. Then we and the -sailors dragged the guns clear from the beach, three miles and more, -through the sand and swamps. We haven’t guns enough yet. Only sixteen -out of about sixty that the general expected. The most of ’em are -ten-inch mortars, and they’re no good for breaching walls. The castle’s -firing thirteen-inch shells at us――sockdologers! But the navy’s helping -the army with three six-inch solid-shot guns and three eight-inch -Paixhan shell guns, for direct fire into the walls. Wait till that -Battery Five opens. It’s point-blank range of the walls on this side.” - -“Is the army all ’round the city?” - -“Yes, siree, boy. The First Division has the right of line, starting -at the beach. That’s ours. Patterson’s Third Division Mohawks have -the center. They’re the Voluntarios. Twigg’s Regulars of the Second -Division have the left, reaching to the beach on the other side of the -city. We’ve got the Mexicanos cooped up. They can’t sneak out.” - -It was a great sight――those bursting shells and those bounding solid -shot, some of which ricochetted to the dunes and rolled hither thither. -Now and then shell fragments flew past, and an occasional long-range -shell burst behind. The soldiers appeared to enjoy the view. They -seemed to know what was coming; they all had been under fire before, -and every few moments a shot or shell might be seen sailing above the -smoke. - -“Look out, boys! There’s a bomb――a thirteen-inch, from the castle!” - -“Here comes a solid shot. Lie low.” - -“There’s an eight-inch, again.” - -Suddenly a lull occurred in the shouts and jokes. The men stiffened -as they lay poking their heads up. A brilliant group of officers -were riding along the shallow trench or road at the inside base of -the sand hill parapets. The foremost was a very large man, broad -shouldered and erect and towering high upon his horse. He had a square, -stern, wrinkled face, smooth shaven except for grey side-whiskers -of regulation trim; wore a plumed chapeau upon his grey hair, full -uniform of dark blue, with gold buttons in a double row down the front, -heavy gold epaulets on the shoulders, and broad gold braid following -his trousers seams. A sword in engraved scabbard hung at his left side; -his left arm was curiously crooked. A splendid horse bore him proudly. - -All the other officers were in full uniform, too, and kept behind him. - -“That’s Scott! That’s General Scott! Old Fuss and Feathers himself!” -Hannibal whispered. “Now mind your eye. No foolishness, boy.” - -General Scott turned his horse and rode boldly right up the sand hill, -until he sat looking at the plain and the enemy through his spy-glass. -The men promptly stood up, at salute. - -“Keep down, keep down, men,” he gruffly ordered. “You shouldn’t expose -yourselves this way.” - -A solid shot whistled by him, and he never stirred. A shell burst in -front, and he never stirred. He sat, gazing. - -“Sure, sir, you’re exposin’ yourself, ain’t you?” somebody called. - -General Scott snapped his glass together, and smiled grimly. Jerry -could see his grey eyes, as he glanced at the man. They were of a keen -grey, but kindly. There was something fatherly as well as severe about -him. - -“Oh, as for that,” General Scott answered, “generals, nowadays, can be -made of anybody, but men, my lad, are hard to get.” - -He leisurely rode back to his staff; and how the soldiers cheered! - - - - -V - -IN THE NAVAL BATTERY - - -“Listen!” Hannibal cried. - -He had sharp ears. The beat of drums and the shrill of fifes could be -faintly heard, sounding from the rear. - -“That means us. It’s the Eighth Infantry march, as a warning signal. -Expect I’m wanted. Golly, hope I haven’t missed musicians’ call. Old -Peters――he’s drum major――will be mad as a hornet. A drummer never gets -any rest, anyhow. Good-by. See you again. You look me up.” - -Away ran Hannibal, and most of the soldiers followed. - -“More trench work,” they grumbled. - -The place seemed very empty. Jerry hesitated, and wandered after. -Before he got to the camp he met a double file marching out to tap -of drum, their muskets on their shoulders. Hannibal and a fifer led, -behind a sergeant. Hannibal wore his drum, suspended from a pair of -whitened cross-belts that almost covered his chest. He gave Jerry a -wink, as he passed, sturdily shuttling his drumsticks. - -Jerry fell in behind, at a respectful distance; soon he lost the file -and the sound of the drum, but he kept on, guided by wheel tracks. Next -he had arrived among the Volunteers again, where they were laughing and -lounging as before, except that these were a different batch, at this -particular spot――grimy as if they had just come out of the trenches, -themselves. Decidedly it was easy to tell a Volunteer from a Regular, -by the clothes and the untrimmed hair and the free off-hand manners. - -The sun was high and hot; a perfect day had succeeded to the stormy -night. Jerry continued, until he struck the big trench scored by the -broad tracks. He was heading back for the naval battery; and presently -there he was, once more, his farther way blocked by the great guns and -a mass of sailors. - -Nobody noticed him. The cross-trench for the battery was ringing with -orders and with the crash of shells from the castle and city. The -magazine was open――a squad of sailors stood beside each gun――the cannon -were being loaded――the charges were rammed home by two sailors to each -rammer――there was a quick order, repeated by the bo’s’ns, who blew -their whistles; and as if by magic all the brush fringing the cannon -muzzles was swept away with cutlasses and brawny arms. - -With a cheer the sailors holding the rope tackle hauled hard and the -enormous cannon darted silently forward, so that their muzzles were -thrust beyond the parapet. - -A sailor behind each breech drew his cord taut. It was attached at the -other end to a large lever, like a trigger, connected with an upraised -hammer. - -A gunner sighted――screwed down, screwed up, sprang aside―― - -“Aye, aye, sir!” - -“Aye, aye, sir!” announced the other squinting gunners, one to each -piece. - -“Fire!” shouted the battery officer, with dash of sword. - -The lock strings were jerked viciously. Such a thunderous blast tore -the air to shreds that Jerry’s ear drums felt driven right into his -head, and the suction of the air, following the report, dragged him -upon his nose. - -The smoke gushed wider and higher. He could see the officers standing -and peering through their spy-glasses, at the city; they shouted――he -could not hear a word, but the smoking guns had recoiled inward until -checked by ropes and chocks; the rammers swabbed with the swab ends of -their long ramrods; other sailors thumbed the vent holes; the swabbers -reversed their tools; sailors rapidly inserted a flannel bag of powder -into each muzzle; in it went, forced home by the ramrods; shells for -some guns, shot for others, had been handed up――were rammed down――out -rolled the guns, to the haul on block and tackle―― - -“Aye, aye, sir!” - -“Fire!” - -“_Boom-m-m!_” - -The sailors appeared to be cheering as they toiled. The guns thundered -and smoked――recoiled as if alive and eager, were sponged and loaded -and run out again; every man was on the jump, but they all moved like -clockwork. Cowering there, back of the magazine, and glued to the side -of the trench, Jerry stared roundly. Nobody paid any attention to him. -All were too busy to take heed of a ragged boy. - -“_Bang!_” A return shot had arrived. It was a shell, and had burst so -near that the fragments and the dirt rained down. - -“_Bang!_” Another. The naval battery had been discovered, and Jerry was -under fire. - -The naval guns and the guns of the city forts answered one another -furiously. What a clangor and turmoil――what a smother of hot smoke from -the cannon muzzles and the bursting shells! Solid shot thudded in, -too. They ripped across the parapet, cutting gashes and sending the -sand-bags flying. They bounded into the trench, and lay there spinning, -ugly and black. It was hard to tell whether they were really solid or -were going to burst. Horrors! One of the men passing ammunition had -lost his head! A solid shot skimming through the same slot out of which -a cannon muzzle pointed had taken the man’s head off; he crumpled like -a sack, and Jerry felt sick at the red sight. - -When he opened his eyes and had to look again, shuddering, the body was -gone; another sailor――a live one――stood in the place, and the guns were -booming as before. - -All the guns of the city forts on this side seemed to be firing at the -naval battery. Several sailors had been wounded; a young officer was -down and bleeding. The wounded were staggering to the rear; one stopped -and sank beside Jerry. He had an arm dangling and crimsoned, and a -bloody head. - -“Ship ahoy, matie,” he gasped. Jerry recognized him as his first friend -of the night preceding. “You’re here again, are you? D’you know where -the sick bay is?” - -“No, sir,” said Jerry. - -“It’s aft some’ers down this bloomin’ trench. Lend me a tow, will you? -I’ve got a spar nigh shot off and a bit o’ shell in my figgerhead. Hard -for me to keep a course, d’you see?” - -“All right. You tell me where to take you.” - -“Right-o, my hearty. Steady, there. P’int due sou’-sou’east. The sick -bay and the bloody sawbones’ll be some’ers abeam. You’ll smell the -arnicky.” - -With the shells exploding and the cannon-balls pursuing they made way -down the trench, the sailor leaning with his sound arm on Jerry’s -shoulders. - -The sick bay, or hospital, was a sandbag-covered room at one side; not -a pleasant place――oh, no, for wounds were being dressed and things were -being cut off by the navy surgeon and his assistant. Still, it seemed -to be safe from the shot and shell, and there were not many wounded, -yet; only four or five. So Jerry lingered, until the surgeon espied him -and set him at work picking lint, serving water, and so forth. - -The reports from the battery were encouraging, judging by the -conversation. The six guns were all in action, together: the three -Paixhans, which threw shells eight inches in diameter and weighing -sixty-eight pounds, and the three solid-shot pieces, which threw balls, -six inches in diameter, and weighing thirty-two pounds. These were the -heaviest American guns firing yet, for breaching. - -“Yes, shiver my timbers!” growled Jerry’s sailor to one of the other -wounded. “Scott axed for ’em, didn’t he? Would the commodore please to -land a few o’ the navy toys and furnish the bass in this here music? -Would the navy lend the army some genuyine main-deck guns, of a kind to -fire a broadside with and send the bloomin’ dons to Davy Jones? ‘Bless -my bloody eyes!’ says the commodore. ‘Sartinly I will, general. But I -must fight ’em.’ And ain’t we a-fightin’ of ’em? Well, I guess we are, -matie!” - -So being navy guns, they were being “fought” by the navy. From seven -hundred yards their shot and shell were tearing right through the walls -of the city. The astonished Mexicans were fighting back with three -batteries, all aimed at the naval battery, to put it out. - -The army was erecting another battery, nearby――Battery Number 4, of the -heaviest army cannon, sixty-eight-pounders and twenty-four-pounders. -Pretty soon these would join with the navy fire. - -The work in the sick bay slackened, and Jerry stole up “forward” again. -The din and the rush were as bad as ever. The sailors, bared to the -waist, were black with powder grime and streaked with sweat, on faces, -bodies and arms. The guns were alive and alert――they were monsters, -belching, darting back, fuming, while they waited to be fed, then -eagerly darting to belch once more. - -After each shot the gun squads cheered, peering an instant through the -fog. - -“Another for the dons’ lockers!” - -“Hooray, lads! We’ve cut his bloomin’ flag away.” - -“No, no! It’s up again.” - -Yonder, across the heaving plain, the figure of a Mexican officer had -leaped upon the parapet of a bastion fort set in the walls and was -fastening the Mexican flag to its broken flagpole. It was a brave act. -Cheers greeted him. - -The crew in front of Jerry reloaded at top speed. The great gun spoke. - -“They’re serving those pieces like rifles,” said somebody, in Jerry’s -ear. “By thunder, they’re planting shot and shell exactly where they -please.” That was the surgeon, who had come forward for a view. “But -the enemy’s making mighty good practice, too. He has German artillery -officers.” - -Suddenly the surgeon yelled, and grabbing Jerry forced him flat. - -“Look sharp!” - -The parapet of the battery was scored ragged. The gun platforms and -the trench were littered with shell fragments and spent solid shot. -Now there had sounded a soft “plump” or thud. A round black sphere as -large as Jerry’s head had landed in the bottom of the wide space behind -the guns――it was only a few feet to the rear of the quarter-gunner who -stood holding in his arms a copper tank containing the powder charges. -Each charge weighed ten pounds. - -He heard the thump, and what did he do but turn and stoop and put -his hand upon the thing! Evidently it was hot――it was smoking――a -shell! Down dived the quarter-gunner, quick as a wink, plastering -himself against the ground. There was a chorus of startled shouts, -and――“_Boom!_” the shell had exploded. - -The tremendous shock drove Jerry rolling over and over. As seemed -to him, the trench and the emplacements and the battery and all the -men had been blown to bits. But when he picked himself up amidst the -dense smoke, instead of seeing bloody shreds everywhere, he saw the -men likewise picking themselves up and staring about dazedly. The -ammunition chest had exploded also, but even the quarter-gunner had not -been harmed. One lieutenant had had his hat-brim torn off; that was all. - -“A thirteen-inch bomb, from the castle,” the surgeon remarked. “Young -man, we’d better get out of here, and stay where we belong.” - -“Send that boy out of fire,” an officer barked. “Now, my hearties! Show -those fellows we’re still alive.” - -Cheering, the sailors jumped to their task. - -His head ringing, Jerry stumbled back with the surgeon. And at the -hospital he got a quick dismissal. - -“You heard the orders, youngster. Follow your nose and keep going.” - -That was good advice, when such shells were landing and he could be -of no use. So Jerry scuttled back down the trench, hoping to run upon -Hannibal somewhere. - - - - -VI - -SECOND LIEUTENANT GRANT - - -The Volunteer section of the trenches, extending right and left back -of the naval battery, had not escaped the fire of the Mexican guns. It -was filled with the blue-coats and blue-caps, as before; but shot and -shell had ripped it, squads were repairing it, under fire, by throwing -up fresh sand and stowing the sandbags more securely. The other men -crouched nervously, their muskets grasped, as if they were awaiting the -word to charge. Some of them grinned at Jerry, when he paused to look -in; they leveled jokes at him. - -“Did you get blown up, bub?” - -“How’s the weather, where you’ve been?” - -“Does your maw know you’re out?” - -But Jerry pressed on again, “following his nose,” and trying to dodge -shell fragments; tried a short cut among the dunes, rounded one of the -numerous lagoons or marshes, where soldiers off duty were washing their -socks; and sooner than he had expected he had entered the camp of the -Regulars, once more. - -He could tell it by the looks of it. The men were better “set up” -than average, seemed well cared for, acted business like; their older -officers were brusque, the younger were stiff-backed and slim-waisted, -and as a rule they all sat or stood apart from the soldiers. - -The hour was after noon; he knew this by the sun, dimly shining -through the drifting smoke cloud, and by his empty stomach――amazingly -empty now that he thought about it. But he had not laid eyes upon -Hannibal, yet, nor anybody else that he ever had seen before. - -He happened to stop for a moment near a young officer. The officer -was composedly standing by himself, his hands in his pockets as if -he were not at all concerned about the racket at the front. He had a -smooth-shaven, rather square face, dark brown hair and blue-grey eyes, -and was stocky but not large. In fact, was scarcely medium. He had a -thoughtful, resolute look, however――a quiet way, that is, which might -make anyone hesitate to tackle him for trouble. - -He gave Jerry a slow, quizzical smile. - -“Well, my lad, what do you want here?” - -“Will you please tell me if this is the Eighth United States Infantry?” -Jerry asked. - -“No. That’s in the Second Brigade. This is the Fourth Infantry, First -Brigade.” - -“Then where is the Eighth Infantry?” asked Jerry. - -“The Eighth is posted with the Second Brigade, farther on. You’ll see -the regimental flag. What do you want with the Eighth Regiment?” - -“I know a boy there. He promised to get me a job.” - -“What kind of a job?” - -“He didn’t say, but he’s a drummer boy.” - -“You reckon on being a drummer boy? Better not. There’s one with his -arm shot off, already.” - -“Not Hannibal!” Jerry exclaimed. - -“Hannibal who?” - -“Hannibal Moss. He’s the boy I mean.” - -“Oh, no; not that young rascal of the Eighth. Another boy by the name -of Rome, over in the Twiggs division. Now he’ll be a cripple for life.” - -“Will he have to go home?” - -“Yes.” - -“Well,” said Jerry, “I’d hate to have my arm shot off, but I’d hate -worse to have to go home and miss all the rest of the fighting. Could I -get his job, do you think?” - -The officer laughed. When he laughed, his face lighted up. - -“I don’t believe that this army can wait until you learn to drum. We’re -liable to be busy from now on. Where did you come from? Where are your -folks?” - -“Haven’t any. I’ve been in the naval battery.” - -“You have! Belong to the navy, do you?” - -“No, sir. I don’t seem to belong anywhere. I ran away from Vera Cruz -last night. I’m an American.” - -“So I see. Well, how do you like the naval battery?” - -“It’s pretty lively,” said Jerry, shaking his head. “They didn’t want -me, there, so I came back to the army.” - -“You’d better go on to the rear; go down to the beach, and some of -those camp followers will take care of you.” - -“Are they a part of the army?” - -“Not exactly,” the officer grimly answered. “Their duty seems to lie in -raking in the army’s money as fast as they can bamboozle us. Still, the -laundresses are rather necessary. I’ll speak to some laundress about -you, when I have opportunity. Are you willing to scrub clothes in a -tub?” - -“No,” Jerry declared honestly. “I think I’d rather join the army and -help fight. Are you a general?” - -“I?” The young officer acted astonished. “Not yet. I’m only Second -Lieutenant Grant. I’m about as far from being a general as you are.” - -“But you’re fighting, anyway.” - -“Not very fiercely, at present. The artillery is doing the fighting. -After the artillery has opened the way, then the infantry will have a -chance.” - -“Well,” said Jerry, “I guess I’d better be going on.” - -“Look here,” spoke Lieutenant Grant. “I’ll wager you’re hungry. Aren’t -you?” - -“Yes, sir.” - -“You see that tent at the end of the row?” And Lieutenant Grant -pointed. “That’s my quarters――mine and Lieutenant Sidney Smith’s. -You go there and you’ll find a darky; or you’ll find him if he isn’t -somewhere else. He’s Smith’s servant. You tell Pompey that Lieutenant -Grant sent you to get something to eat. Then you can tidy up my things. -I reckon,” added Lieutenant Grant, stubbornly, as if to himself, “that -I’ll show Smith I can have a bodyguard as well as he can.” - -“And shall I stay there?” Jerry asked eagerly. - -“You say you want to join the army. So if you’re willing to play -understudy to a mere second lieutenant instead of to a drum major, -maybe we can come to some agreement. At any rate, go get a meal.” - -Jerry hustled for the tent. The flaps were open, nobody was within, -but on the sunny side, without, he discovered a young darky asleep, on -his back, with a bandanna handkerchief over his face to keep off the -flies. - -The darky was dressed in a torn whitish cotton shirt, a pair of old -army trousers, sky-blue, tied about his waist with a rope, and gaping -shoes from which his toes peeped out. - -He was snoring. But Jerry had to get something to eat, according to -orders. - -“Hello,” he said, gazing down. - -The bandanna rose and fell; the snores continued. Shot and shell and -big guns made no difference to this darky. - -Jerry considered. He broke a twig from a scrap of bush and tickled -the toes. They twitched, the snores changed to grunts, the bandanna -wriggled, and on a sudden with a prodigious “Oof! G’way from dar!” the -darky blew off his bandanna and sort of burst into sitting up, staring -wildly, his eyes rolling. - -“Who you?” he accused. “Wha’ fo’ you do dat, ticklin’ me like one o’ -dem t’ousand-leggers? I’se gwine to lambast you fo’ dat, you white limb -o’ Satan!” - -“Lieutenant Grant said you’d find me something to eat,” Jerry explained. -“I didn’t mean to scare you.” - -“Scyare me? Oof! I shuah felt one o’ dem t’ousand-legger centipeders -crawlin’ right inside my shoes. Huh! I don’t give house room to no -t’ousand-leggers. What you say you want? Who-all sent you?” - -“Lieutenant Grant. He said you were to find me something to eat.” - -“Where am dat Lieutenant Grant?” - -“Over there. He was there, but he’s gone now.” For Lieutenant Grant had -disappeared. - -“Done issued me ohders, did he? I don’t belong to no second lieutenant. -I belong to Lieutenant Smith. He fust lieutenant. If he say to feed -white trash, I got to feed ’em, but I ain’t takin’ ohders from no -second lieutenant.” - -“I’ll go back and tell him,” Jerry proffered. “There he is.” Lieutenant -Grant was in sight, talking with another officer. Once he glanced -toward the tent; and his glance could be felt. - -The darky hastily sprang up. - -“Reckon I’ll find you sumpin. Yes, suh; when anybody’s jined the ahmy -he’s got to ’bey his s’perior offercers. Come along, white boy. Where -you from, anyhow?” - -“Vera Cruz.” - -“You from Very Cruz? What you do dar?” - -“Worked for my keep. Last night I ran away.” - -“You an American boy?” - -“Yes, of course.” - -“Hi yi!” Pompey chuckled “’Spec’ Very Cruz ain’t a place to lib in, -dese days. Hi yi! Guess when dose big bombs come a-sailin’ dey say: -‘Where dose Mexicans? Where dose Mexicans? Here dey be, here dey -be――Boom! Now where dey be?’ Yes, suh, white folks better get out. -Bombs cain’t take time to ’stinguish color. Gin’ral Scott, he in berry -big hurry to march on to City ob Mexico. Gwine to spend Fo’th ob Jooly -in Halls ob Montyzoomy, eatin’ off’n golden platters. Come along, -white boy. Ain’t got nuffin’ but cold cohn pone an’ salt hoss, but I’ll -feed you. You gwine to jine the ahmy?” - -“Hope to,” said Jerry. - -“What’s yo’ name?” - -“Jerry Cameron.” - -“Any kin to the No’th Car’liny Camerons?” - -“I don’t know. I haven’t any folks.” - -“Sho’, now! Dem No’th Car’liny Camerons are mighty uppity people. -Dat Lieutenant Grant, he a fine man, too. But I’m ’tached to Fust -Lieutenant Smith, Fo’th United States Infantry. If you get ’tached to -Lieutenant Grant, I’m uppitier than you are, remember. When you work -’round with me you got to ’bey my ohders. I’m yo’ s’perior offercer.” - -“All right, Pompey,” Jerry agreed. - -He munched the cornbread and salt beef, and Pompey chattered on. - -“Listen to dem guns talk! Oof! Talkin’ a way right through dem walls, -laike the horn ob Jericho. Mebbe to-morrow Gin’ral Scott wave his -sword, an’ Lieutenant Smith an’ me an’ all the rest de ahmy, we fix -bagonets an’ go rampagin’ ’crost dat patch ob lebbel ground an’ capture -all dem Mexicans. What you gwine to do den?” - -“Go, too, I guess,” said Jerry. - -“We don’t ’low no nuncumbatants along when we-all charge,” Pompey -asserted. “Ob co’se I got to stay with Massa Smith. I’se part the ahmy. -But when dose cannon balls come a-sayin’ ‘Hum-m-m, where dat little -white boy?’, what you gwine to do den?” - -“I’d dodge ’em,” said Jerry. - -“Wha’ dat? You dodge ’em? Now you talk foolish. Guess you nebber fit a -battle yet. We-all am vet’rans. We-all belong to the Fo’th Infantry. -We-all fit under Gin’ral Taylor. The Fo’th Infantry done licked dem -Mexicans out o’ Texas an’ clyar into Mexico till dar warn’t any more to -lick; den Gin’ral Scott, he said: ‘I got to have dat Fo’th Infantry to -whup Santy Annie an’ capture the City ob Mexico.’ If you gwine to jine -the Fo’th Infantry, boy, you meet up with a heap o’ trouble. We don’t -dodge cannon balls. We hain’t time. We jest let ’em zoop an’ we keep -a-goin’.” - -“All those cannon balls don’t hit somebody,” said Jerry. - -“Um-m-m. How you know? You talk laike you’d been sojerin’. Where you -hide yo’self, after you leave Very Cruz? ’Way back on the beach?” - -“No. I’ve been in the naval battery.” - -“Wha’ dat?” Pompey’s eyes stuck out. “Out dar, with dose big guns? You -lie, boy. How you get dar?” - -“I tumbled into it, last night.” - -“Befo’ the shootin’?” - -“Yes; but I went back this morning. I stayed as long as they’d let me. -Then a big shell burst right inside and an officer made me get out.” - -“Sho’!” Pompey exclaimed. “You been under fiah? ’Pears laike you don’t -talk more’n Lieutenant Grant. He’s the least talkin’est man I ebber did -see. He shuah don’t take any back seat in fightin’, though. Um-m-m, no -indeedy! Dar at Monterey he rode so fast Mexican bullets couldn’t ketch -him. Powerful man on a hoss, dat Lieutenant Grant. But you ’member, -now, if you stay ’round hyar, waitin’ on him, I don’t take ohders from -you. You take ’em from me. I’m sarvent to a fust lieutenant; yo’ man’s -only a second lieutenant. He may be good man; but dat’s ahmy way. I’m -yo’ s’perior in the ahmy.” - -“All right,” Jerry agreed again. - -“Now I’m gwine back to sleep, an’ don’t you tickle my toes. No, suh! I -ain’t ’feared ob bombs, but I’se drefful scyared ob t’ousand-leggers. -Dar’s yo’ side the tent, where Lieutenant Grant sleeps. You kin tidy it -up, if you gwine to stay.” - -Pompey went to sleep, as before. Jerry found little to do. Lieutenant -Grant’s side of the tent was in apple-pie order, not a thing misplaced. -The whole interior of the tent was as neat as a pin. There were only a -couple of cots, two canvas stools, a folding table, two blue painted -chests, with canteens, overcoats, and a few small articles hanging up. - -After fiddling about, Jerry strolled out. Pompey was snoring, the -guns of batteries and city and castle were thundering, soldiers were -drilling or sitting in groups. Lieutenant Grant came walking hastily. - -“Did that darky treat you well?” - -“Yes, sir. I had something to eat.” - -“That’s good.” - -“But I didn’t find much to do in the tent.” - -“I suppose not. Well, I’m on quartermaster detail, and I may not be -back to-night. You’ll have to look out for yourself.” - -“Can I stay?” - -“Where?” - -“With you and the Fourth Infantry.” - -“I shouldn’t wonder,” Lieutenant Grant smiled. “How are you at -foraging?” - -“I don’t know. I’ll try.” - -“Pompey’ll teach you. He’ll take eggs from a setting hen. If Lieutenant -Smith turns up and asks who you are, you tell him you’re attached to -the Fourth Infantry as chief forager for Lieutenant U. S. Grant.” - -“Sha’n’t you need me any more to-day?” Jerry asked. - -“No. You can report in the morning. You may sleep in my bunk to-night -unless I’m there first. That will keep the fleas from getting too -hungry.” - -“I’d like to find the Eighth Infantry and tell Hannibal Moss I’m in the -army.” - -“Go ahead.” - -Lieutenant Grant hurried on. He mounted a horse and galloped for the -beach. Jerry went seeking the Eighth Infantry. - -The sun was much lower in the west. The bombardment had dwindled. It -was said that ammunition for the mortars and other guns had run short -until more could be landed through the heavy surf from the ships. The -firing of the naval battery guns had ceased entirely. - -By the time that Jerry had found the Eighth Infantry the sun was -setting and throughout the camp the company cooks were preparing -supper. A detachment of sailors marched up from the beach, at their -rolling gait, to relieve the crews in the battery. They were given a -cheer. - -“Hello, there!” - -It was Hannibal, again. He stood up and beckoned. Jerry gladly went -over to him. - -“Where you going?” - -“Looking for you, is all.” - -“Good. Wait a minute, till after retreat. I’ve got to beat retreat.” - -“Do you have to retreat?” Jerry blurted, aghast. - -“Naw; not that kind. Not for Old Fuss and Feathers. Cracky, but you’re -green! It’s evening roll-call and parade.” - -Through the camp drums were tapping, fifes squeaking, horns blaring. -Officers were striding, buttoning their jackets and buckling on their -swords. Soldiers were seizing muskets from the stacks and forming lines -under their gruff sergeants. Hannibal himself ran and grabbed his drum -from a stack of muskets, and disappeared around a tent. Sergeants -were calling the company rolls. And in a few moments here came the -regiment’s band, and the fifers and drummers, in a broad, short column, -playing a lively march tune; led by a whopping big drum major, in a -long scarlet coat, gay with gilt braid and cord, on his head a shako -which with nodding plume looked to be three feet high, in his hand a -tasseled staff. - -The music formed on a level space, the band to the fore, then a rank -of fifers, then a rank of drummers――with all the little drummer boys -bursting through their tightly fitting uniforms of red-braided snug -jackets and sky-blue long trousers flaring at the bottoms, their swords -by their sides, their drums slung from their white cross-belts, their -caps tilted saucily. Hannibal was there, rolling his drumsticks as -lustily as the others. - -The regiment followed, marching by companies, the stars and stripes -and the regimental flag of blue and gold at the head. The companies -changed direction into line three ranks deep, on the left of the music. - -“Eyes――right! Right――dress!” - -It was funny to see those eyes. - -“Front!” - -The eyes gazed straight before. - -A man on horseback, who must have been the colonel, sat out in front. - -“Support――arms!” - -“Carry――arms!” - -“Right shoulder――shift!” - -“Shoulder――arms!” - -“Present――arms!” - -The band and field music marched up and down, playing bravely. The -two ranks stood motionless, the soldiers as stiff as ramrods, their -muskets held perpendicularly in front of them. Why, compared with these -Regulars the Mexican Regulars, even the famous Eleventh Infantry of the -Line, were only slouchers. - -The music resumed position; the drums rolled, a bugler lilted a kind of -call. - -Pretty soon the colonel turned his horse and left; the company officers -barked snappy orders, and the companies were marched back to stack arms -again and be dismissed. Hannibal came rollicking without his drum. - -“I’m off till tattoo at half-past nine,” he announced, to Jerry. “No -guard duty. Our company’s to rest. If I wasn’t a drummer I wouldn’t -have anything to do till to-morrow. But a drummer never gets much -rest. He has to be Johnny-on-the-Spot all the time. Just wait till -you’re a drummer. What you want to do? Where’ve you been since morning?” - -“I was up in the naval battery.” - -“Under fire, you mean?” - -“Guess so. A big shell burst right in front of me, inside the battery; -in the middle of us all. Didn’t kill anybody, though. Then an officer -made me get. But I’ve joined the army.” - -“You have? How? Already?” - -“You bet. I’m in the Fourth Regiment.” - -“What do you do there? A drummer? Who’s teaching you? Old Brown?” - -“No, I’m not a drummer. I’m with the officers. I’m attached to -Lieutenant Grant.” - -“Aw――――!” and Hannibal stared. “What you mean now? How ‘attached?’” - -“That’s what he said. I take care of his tent and I go along with him -and the Fourth Regiment.” - -“You do? That’s not soldiering; that’s only being a follower. But -what did you join the Fourth for? Maybe I could have got you into the -Eighth. You ought to be a drummer. A drummer gets nine dollars a month -and he’s some pumpkins, too. He’s no private. He wears a sword like an -officer, and has his own drill. I could have taught you the taps and -flams and drags and rolls. They’re easy. Then maybe you’d be a drum -major some day. That’s what I intend to be.” - -“Well, I can learn to be an officer. Lieutenant Grant will teach me,” -Jerry answered. - -“You’ve got to be a soldier first, before you learn to be an officer. -You ought to enlist or go to school. Nearly all the company officers -in the Regulars went to school at West Point. The old fellows were -appointed or rose from the ranks, but most of them fought in the -War of 1812 or in Florida. Some of the fresh civilians are jolly -green when they join. My eye! I know more than they do. But anyhow,” -Hannibal continued, as if not to be disagreeable, “the Fourth is a good -regiment, next to the Eighth. You’ll learn, I guess. I know Lieutenant -Grant. I know all the officers. He’s got a funny name. Ever hear it? -Ulysses! That’s it. He’s not very big, but you ought to see him stick -on a horse. Come along. Let’s go up on top of one of the hills and -watch the shells.” - -Then, as they trudged: - -“Here come the sailors from the battery. Jiminy, but they’re black! -It’s no sport, serving those big guns. I’d rather be in the artillery -than in the infantry, though, if I wasn’t a drummer.” - -The tars from the naval battery trooped wearily by, for the beach and -their ships. Black they were, with powder, and coated with sand, so -that their eyes peered out whitely. - -“Did you give ’em Davy Jones, Jack?” Hannibal called smartly. - -They grinned and growled; and one of them answered back: - -“Aye, aye, young hearty. Blowed their bloomin’ bul’arks all to smash, -that’s wot. Hooray for the navy!” - -“Hooray!” Hannibal and Jerry cheered. - -The sand hills were being occupied by officers and men, gathered to -watch the show. The best point seemed to be awarded to a special little -group―― - -“Say! We’ll have to take another,” Hannibal exclaimed. “There’s General -Scott, again――and his engineers, too. We’ll get as close as we can. -Wait. They’re coming down. You mind your eye and I’ll show you a fine -officer.” The group, with the commanding figure of General Scott to -the fore, gazing through glasses, seemed about to leave. “You see that -officer who’s just turned our way? Talking to another officer? He’s -Captain Robert E. Lee, of the engineers, on Scott’s staff. He laid -out these trenches and batteries――he’s the smartest engineer in the -army. The officer he’s talking to is Lieutenant George B. McClellan, -graduated from West Point only last summer. I know him――I knew him when -we all were under Old Zach, in the north of Mexico, before we came here -with Fuss and Feathers. He’s smart, too, but he gets funny sometimes. -Captain Lee is the smartest of all.” - -Upon leaving their hill the group passed nearer. Jerry might see -that Captain Lee was a slender, dark-eyed, handsome young officer; -Lieutenant McClellan was not so good-looking――had a long nose and a -pinched face, and a careless, happy-go-lucky manner; was slight of -build. General Scott towered over them all. What a giant of a man he -was――and with what a voice when he spoke in measured sentences! - -They mounted horses held by orderlies, and cantered away, probably for -headquarters where General Scott’s large tent stood, back of the First -Division camp. - -Jerry and Hannibal climbed to the crest of the sand hill. The evening -had fallen; the west was pink, and the tops of the sand hills and the -towers of the city glowed, but the dusk was gathering on the plain and -over the gulf. Down in the plain the mortars were firing slowly, as -before, one after another, as if timed by a clock; and the city and the -castle were replying in same fashion. As the dusk deepened the bombs -could be seen. They rose high, sailed on, leaving a streak of red from -their burning fuses, and dropped swiftly――and all the city was lighted -luridly by the burst of flame. - -The Mexican shells crossed their tracks with other streaks of red; and -they, also, burst with great lurid explosions, illuminating the sand -hills and the dark lines of trenches below. Sometimes there were four -and five bombs in the air at the same time, going and coming. - -It was a grand sight, from the outside. Jerry was glad that he was not -in Vera Cruz; and he was glad that he was not one of the soldiers in -those little detachments that now and again hustled silently through -the hills, to enter the trenches, and do outpost duty and repair the -works, under fire. - -“Guess to-morrow the army heavies will be helping the navy thirty-twos -and sixty-eights,” Hannibal remarked. “Then we’ll have the walls -breached, and we’ll all go in and capture the whole shebang. General -Scott won’t sit around here, waiting. He’ll storm the walls and have -the business over with before the yellow fever starts up. We’ve got to -get away from this low country.” - -“What are we fighting about, anyway, Hannibal?” - -“Fighting about, boy! To whip Mexico, of course. Got to fetch her to -time, haven’t we? ‘Conquer a peace’――that’s what General Scott says. -The Republic of Texas has come into the United States, and as long as -Mexico says she sha’n’t, and keeps pestering Americans and won’t pay -for damages, the only way to get a peace is to conquer it. Besides, -Mexico fired first, at the Rio Grande――killed some of the dragoons and -captured Lieutenant Thornton and a lot more. Guess we had to fight, -after that, didn’t we?” - -“Mexico says we invaded her.” - -“Aw, shucks!” Hannibal scoffed. “So do some of the home papers. That’s -politics. When once the army gets to shooting then talk isn’t much use -till one side or the other is licked. They all ought to have arranged -matters before the fighting started.” - -Until long after dark they two crouched here, together with other -soldiers, watching the bombs. The night was clear and still, except -for the smoke and the guns. And when the castle spoke with a -thirteen-incher, and that landed, then――_Boom!_ - -“Well, I’ve got to go for tattoo,” said Hannibal, with a yawn. “You’d -better skip, too, or you won’t be let in if you don’t have the -countersign. After tattoo everybody’s supposed to be bunked for the -night.” - -“Maybe I’ll see you to-morrow.” - -“See you in Vera Cruz, boy,” Hannibal promised. “Bet you the Eighth -will beat the Fourth, if we storm. Sorry you aren’t one of us, in the -Eighth. That’s General Worth’s regiment. He was our colonel before I -joined.” - -“I’ll stay with the Fourth,” Jerry retorted. “I’ll go sharpen Lieutenant -Grant’s sword.” - -Hannibal laughed. - -“Those toad-stickers aren’t meant to be sharp. They’re just for looks. -But I keep mine sharp, all right. To-morrow I’ll capture a Mexican with -it.” - -Jerry found the tent. Everything here was quiet, except Pompey, and -he was snoring. So Jerry snuggled down upon Lieutenant Grant’s cot, -under a blanket, intending to stay awake to make certain that it was -all right; but while listening to Pompey, and to the steady cannonade, -dulled by distance, he drowsed off――dreamed of charging and throwing -shells while he ran, with Hannibal beating a drum and the Mexican army -lying flat and shooting bullets that burst like little bombs. - -In the morning he was aroused by drums and fifes. He was still in the -cot. Pompey was about to shake him, and a tall officer in undress was -laughing. - -“Hi, you white boy! Wha’ fo’ you sleepin’ in an offercer’s bed?” Pompey -accused. “Hain’t you manners? Heah dat reveille――an’ me cookin’ all the -breakfus! Turn out. When Lieutenant Grant come, what he gwine to do fo’ -a place to sleep?” - -“You’re Grant’s boy, are you?” the tall officer asked. “I’m Lieutenant -Smith. And in absence of your superior officer I politely request that -you help Pompey with the breakfast. Lieutenant Grant will be here -at any moment. He’ll appreciate a warm bed, but he’ll want it for -himself.” - - - - -VII - -HURRAH FOR THE RED, WHITE AND BLUE! - - -“A truce! A truce! They’ve surrendered!” - -It was afternoon again. All this morning the cannon of both sides -had been hammering away; but the new army battery, Number 4, of -four twenty-four-pounders and two sixty-eight-pounder shell guns or -Paixhans, had joined with the naval battery. The fire seemed to be -battering the walls to pieces. The men from the trenches, and the -officers who watched through their spy-glasses, declared that the -shells and solid shot were dismounting the Mexican guns and tumbling -the casemates and parapets upon the heads of the gunners. The mortars -were still blowing up the buildings and the streets. The Mexican fire -was growing weaker. - -Lieutenant Grant had come back just after reveille, from all-night work -in the quartermaster department, overseeing the landing of stuff on the -beach from the transports in the offing. He had gone to bed and had -slept until noon. - -“Do you think we’ll charge on Vera Cruz to-day?” Jerry asked at his -first opportunity; for Pompey had been prophesying, and the waiting -infantry appeared to be a little nervous, and the old sergeants would -say neither yes nor no. - -“That’s not for me to answer,” Lieutenant Grant replied. “We’ll obey -orders.” - -“Vera Cruz has got to surrender, though, hasn’t it? And if Old Fuss -and Feathers says to charge, we’ll charge.” - -“Look here,” the lieutenant rapped, severely. “Don’t let me catch -you using that nickname again. You’re speaking disrespectfully of -the commanding officer. He’s Major-General Scott. Remember that: -Major-General Winfield Scott, chief of the United States army, and -commanding this Army of Invasion. Where did you get that name?” - -“The men call him that; even the drummer boys do,” Jerry apologized. -“So I thought I might.” - -“Well, the men don’t do it out of disrespect. They know him. All the -old soldiers are proud to serve under General Scott. The drummer boys -are young rascals, without respect for anybody. So don’t pattern on -them.” - -“Is General Scott as good a general as Old Zach――General Taylor, I -mean?” - -“I’m not supposed to express an opinion. A second lieutenant has no -opinions to express about his superior officers. I served under General -Taylor in Texas and northeastern Mexico. General Taylor won all his -battles; that’s the test of a general. He’s an old hand at fighting. -So is General Scott. They were appointed to the army at the same time, -1808. As far as I may judge, their methods are different but equally -effective. General Taylor I was privileged to see in action. He is -experienced in emergency fighting, learned from his campaigns against -the Indians in the War of 1812 and in the Florida War. He apparently -does not plan far ahead, but meets the emergencies as they come up, -on the field, and handles his forces in person. General Scott, who -attained high reputation for bravery and skill against British regular -troops in the War of 1812 and is a hard student of war――in fact, has -compiled the system of tactics in use by the United States army――relies -more, I understand, upon having his orders carried out as issued in -advance and covering the whole field. He is regarded as a master of -tactics, which, you know, means the moving of troops upon the field, in -the presence of the enemy. Strategy is the science of moving troops to -advantage before contact with the enemy; the getting ready to fight. -Tactics may be learned in books, but strategy is largely a gift. -General Taylor is named by the soldiers who admire him ‘Old Rough and -Ready,’ and that well describes him. He is a straightforward fighter, -and opposed to all display; he places dependence upon the natural -courage of his men, rather than upon drill. His tactics are successful. -The tactics of General Scott have brought the army to a fine state of -discipline. The American regular army is the best in the world, and -the Volunteers will soon be not far behind. As I have not served long -under General Scott, of course I cannot say much about his strategy -when in command of a large body of troops. One thing is sure: he has -the ablest engineers yet produced, to help him carry out his plans, and -a splendidly trained army, both officers and rank and file, to perform -his plans; and officers and men are confident that his plans will be -thoroughly sound.” - -With this military lecture, Lieutenant Grant strode away. - -Pompey chuckled. - -“Hi yi! Nebber did heah Lieutenant Grant talk so much at onct. Didn’t -say nuffin’ much, neither.” - -At noon the fire from the city had ceased. There were rumors that the -Mexican general wished to surrender. About two o’clock the American -batteries ceased, also. Cheers spread from the advance trenches back to -the camps. A white flag had been borne from the city to General Scott’s -headquarters. - -“A truce! A truce! They’ve surrendered!” - -Out on the front the soldiers could be seen scrambling from the -trenches and cheering; and the officers of the batteries stood upon the -sandbags to examine the walls at leisure with their glasses. - -The truce, however, did not last long. The Mexican flag went back. The -general officers, who had been called into council with General Scott, -returned to their divisions; and one of them――a burly short-necked, -red-faced, lion-looking man who was General David Twiggs of the Second -Division of Regulars, said, in plain hearing as he rode: - -“Humph! My boys will have to take that place with the bayonet yet.” - -The mortar batteries opened again. It was reported that General Scott -and Commodore Perry (Commodore Conner had gone home) of the navy had -agreed upon an assault of the city to-morrow, March 26, by soldiers and -sailors both. - -The mortars fired all night, in slow fashion, as if for reminder. The -city forts and the castle answered scarcely at all. Evidently the -time for the assault was ripe. About midnight another norther came; -the worst norther to date. In the morning half the tents were flat, -everything and everybody were covered with sand, and the trenches and -the city could not be seen through the sand cloud. - -“We gwine to attack, jest the same,” Pompey proclaimed. “We cain’t -see the enemy; enemy can’t see us. Fust t’ing dey know, dar we’ll be. -Wind cain’t stop bagonets. No, suh! Oof! Don’t believe I laike dis -country, nohow. If Gin’ral Scott don’t take us away, I’se gwine back -to Virginny. Yaller feber’s done arriv. Dey’s got it yonduh in Very -Cruz, already. Mebbe we don’t want dat Very Cruz. I ain’t pinin’ to -stay ’round hyar. Nigger don’t stand no show ’gin yaller feber. Dey -say dar’s a big passel ob Mexican sojers collectin’ in back country to -capture us when yaller feber an’ dese no’thers gets done with us. So if -Gin’ral Scott don’t quit foolin’ an’ mahch away, I’se gwine by myself.” - -Soon after breakfast, or about eight o’clock, the firing stopped once -more; another white flag had been taken in to General Scott. This time -it proved to be in earnest, for the batteries did not reopen during the -day, nor during the night. - -The surrender was set for the morning of the twenty-ninth, at ten -o’clock sharp. - -Jerry looked up Hannibal, and learned more news from him than he could -get by listening to Lieutenant Grant and Lieutenant Smith talk, or to -Pompey chatter. - -“We bagged ’em both,” Hannibal asserted. “City and castle, too. General -Scott didn’t start in to say anything about the castle. All he wanted -was the city, and then the castle would have to surrender or starve. -But the Mexican general offered the two, and so of course we took ’em. -General Worth, of our division, and Pillow, of the Tennessee Volunteers -in the Third Division, and Colonel Totten, chief of engineers, did the -talking. The surrender’s to be made at ten o’clock in the morning, day -after to-morrow. Who did you say the Mexican general was?” - -“General Morales.” - -“Well, he isn’t. He escaped and left another general, Landero, to foot -the bill. But you’ll see a great sight when all those Mexicans march -out and pile up their guns. We took that city easy, too. Had only two -officers and nine men killed in the army and one officer and four men -killed in the navy, and less than sixty wounded. That’s pretty good for -twenty days’ skirmishing and investing.” - -“The Mexicans have lost a thousand, I guess,” proffered Jerry. - -“They ought to have surrendered sooner. The longer they held out the -worse they got it. We were going to storm the walls this very day. The -navy was to carry the water front and the army the sides; and there’d -have been bullets and shells and solid shot and bayonet work, all -mixed.” - -The morning for the surrender dawned clear and calm. The orders had -called for every officer and man to clean up and wear his best uniform. -So there were preparations as if for parade. - -“Sech a polishin’ an’ scourin’ an’ slickenin’ I nebber did see,” Pompey -complained, as he and Jerry worked on the belts and swords and uniforms -of their lieutenants. Through all the regiment and division the -soldiers were scouring their muskets and polishing their buttons and -whitening their cross-belts and shining their tall leather dress-hats. - -The drums beat the assembly, which was the signal for the companies to -fall in. The troops, under the stars and stripes and their regimental -colors, were marched to a green meadow south of the city walls. The -sailors had come ashore. They wore their white flapping trousers, and -short blue jackets, and white flannel shirts with broad blue collars, -having a star in the corners. They, and the Regulars, were spick and -span, because they had been trained to take care of themselves and -their things. The Volunteers were not so neat, but that was the fault -of their officers. - -The sailors and the Regulars were drawn up in one long line, extending -nearly a mile; the Volunteers were drawn up in another long line, -facing them. The dragoons were at the head of the double line, and so -were two mounted companies of Riflemen, and the Tennessee Horse. By -this time a great stream of Mexican men and women and children and -loaded burros were filing out of the city gate, taking their goods with -them. General Scott had promised not to interfere with the citizens, -but nevertheless the people were afraid. - -Jerry himself, hastening with Pompey and a throng of the camp followers, -had his first chance to see the whole army. - -The generals all were here, with their staffs: General Scott, of -course, the most imposing of any, by reason of his great size and his -full uniform; the swarthy, flashing-eyed General Worth, very handsome -on a prancing horse――he had been appointed to receive the surrender, -which was an honor to the First Division; the white-haired, lion-like -General Twiggs (Old Davy), of the Second Division of Regulars――his -whiskers on his cheeks were growing again, which, with his short -neck and stout shoulders, made him look more like a lion than ever; -General Robert Patterson of the Volunteer Third Division――an old -soldier of Pennsylvania, who had a rugged face and high forehead and -was known as a fighting Irishman; and Colonel William S. Harney of the -Dragoons――another giant of a man, almost as large as General Scott, -with sunburned face and blue eyes, and a quick, bluff manner, which -just fitted a bold dragoon. - -Then there were the brigade commanders: Colonel John Garland and -Colonel Newman S. Clarke of the First Division; Colonel Bennet Riley -(who had risen from the ranks) and General Persifor Smith (the colonel -of the Mounted Rifles), of the Second Division; General Gideon Pillow -the Tennessean (a slightly built man and the youngest of all the -brigadiers), General John A. Quitman the Mississippian (a slender man -with elegant side-whiskers), and General James Shields from Illinois (a -black-moustached Irishman), of the Volunteers. - -But the Regular cavalry took the eye: The one company of the First -Dragoons, under young Captain Phil Kearny, the six companies of the -Second Dragoons, and the nine companies of the Riflemen under Major -Edwin V. Sumner of the Second Dragoons, while their own colonel, -Persifor Smith, was serving as brigadier. Only two companies of the -Riflemen were really Mounted Riflemen; the regiment had lost most -of its horses in a storm on the way, and not all the dragoons were -mounted, either, for the same reason. - -The uniform of the dragoons was short dark-blue jackets piped with -yellow, and light blue trousers with yellow stripes down the seams, and -buff saddle reinforcements on the inside legs; cavalry boots, and dress -helmets floating a white horsehair plume. The Riflemen (who carried -rifles instead of muskatoons) had green trimmings. It was said to be a -dashing regiment, equal to the dragoons. - -Suddenly, at ten o’clock precisely, in the city and at the castle of -San Ulloa, down fluttered the Mexican red, white and green tricolor -flags, while the Mexican cannon fired a salute to them; the red, white -and blue rose in their place, and the salute by the army and navy guns -was almost drowned by the great cheer from Jerry and all the rest of -the non-combatants. The two ranks of soldiers and sailors did not dare -to cheer without orders, but they swelled with pride. - -And here came the Mexican army, in a long column, out of the southern -gate, with a lot more women and children (the soldiers’ families) -trudging beside, carrying bundles. - -There were five thousand――infantry, artillery and cavalry――led by -their bands. Their uniforms were dazzling: green and red, light -blue and white, blue and red, whitish and red, red and yellow――many -combinations, the officers being fairly covered with gilt and bright -braid. - -“Shuah, dey’s most all gin’rals an’ drum-majors,” Pompey exclaimed, -admiring. - -In comparison, the United States uniforms of plain navy blue and -sky blue, with a little white and a little red and a little yellow -and green, looked very business like――even the gold epaulets of the -officers’ dress coats. - -General Worth and General Landero severely saluted one another. General -Landero drew aside with his staff. The whole Mexican army marched down -between the two lines, and out beyond the end they were shown where to -stack their muskets and deposit their belts and other equipment and the -flags. A regiment of lancers, in green, with tall red caps and yellow -cloaks, brought up the rear, on foot, to pile their lances. - -Some of the Mexican soldiers looked sad; some looked rather glad to -have the matter ended. They all were pledged by their officers not to -take part in the war again, unless exchanged for American prisoners. -Meanwhile they were permitted to go home. - -“Reckon dey mought as well plow deir cohn,” Pompey chuckled. “’Case -why? ’Case dar won’t be anybody to exchange ’em fo’.” - - - - -VIII - -INSPECTING THE WILD MOHAWKS - - -After the surrender the army camp was moved out of the sand hills and -to the beach. That was a great relief――to be away from the swamps and -thickets and dust and the thousands of small flies and millions of -fleas. Some of the clever officers had been greasing themselves all -over with pork rind and sleeping in canvas bags drawn tightly around -their necks; but even this did not work. - -General Worth was appointed military governor of Vera Cruz; another -honor for the First Division. General Quitman’s brigade of Mohawks was -put in as garrison. - -The men were granted leave, in squads, to go into Vera Cruz. And Vera -Cruz was a sad sight, as Jerry found out when he and Hannibal strolled -through. The bombs from the mortars had crashed through the tiled roofs -of the buildings, burst the walls apart, and had made large holes in -the paved streets. It was dangerous to walk because of the loosened -cornices of the roofs. The beautiful cathedral had been struck; it now -was a hospital, containing hundreds of wounded soldiers and civilians. - -But the most interesting thing to “military men” was the wall on -the side of the city toward the naval battery. The sixty-eights and -thirty-twos had hewed two openings――had simply pulverized the coral -rock laid twelve feet thick; and a wagon and team might be driven -through either gap. The bastions, also, and the outlying batteries, -had been knocked to smithereens. - -Yet it was astonishing how quickly American rule was bringing order. -The streets were being rapidly cleaned up by squads of soldiers and -by the Mexicans who were hired. Shops were doing a big business――the -soldiers, especially the Volunteers, were gorging themselves with -fruits and vegetables and cakes. The harbor was again crowded with -masts, of American transports and merchantmen flying many flags. The -sea-wall was a regular market, piled with bales and boxes and crates -for the army, and thronged with people white, yellow and black, who set -up stalls, or crowded around the huge naval guns hauled there to be -placed back upon the ships of Commodore Perry’s squadron. A new wharf -was being built, extending out clear to the coaling depot that had been -erected upon the reef near the castle, at the entrance to the harbor. - -Assuredly old Vera Cruz was being Americanized. But although everything -was under strict martial law, and one negro camp follower who had -frightened a Mexican woman had been promptly tried and hanged, Jerry -never caught a glimpse of the two Manuels among all the Mexicans who -stayed in safety. - -He was not now afraid of the two Manuels. They had cuffed him and had -sneered at the “gringos”――but here the gringos were, unbeaten! And Vera -Cruz belonged to the Mexicans no longer. - -In a short time the camp was moved again, to the plain between the city -and the sand hills. The men had been rested; they were set at work -drilling. As soon as horses and mules and wagons arrived from the -United States, the march for the City of Mexico would be begun. - -“Let’s go over to the Volunteer camp and watch the foot Mustangs -drill,” Hannibal proposed, one afternoon. “That’s great fun.” - -So they went to the Third Division camp. A number of companies were -being put through their drill, according to the tactics of General -Scott. The Kentuckians (a regiment newly arrived) were exercising in -the manual of arms. - -“Eyes――right!” - -“Eyes――left!” - -“Front!” - -“Shoulder――arms!”[1] - - [1] In Scott’s Tactics “shoulder arms” was the same as “carry arms.” - -“Secure――arms!” - -“Shoulder――arms!” - -“Order――arms!” - -“Rest!” - -“Attention――company!” - -“Shoulder――arms!” - -“Right shoulder――shift!” - -“Shoulder――arms!” - -“Charge――bayonets!” - -“Shoulder――arms!” - -“Load in twelve times――load!” - -Then―― - -“Open――pan!” - -“Handle――cartridge!” - -“Tear――cartridge!” - -Every soldier tore the end of the paper cartridge open with his teeth. - -“Prime!” - -A little of the powder was emptied into the pans of the guns. - -“Shut――pan!” - -“Cast――about!” - -At that, the soldiers dropped their guns upright, and prepared to pour -the powder in from the cartridge. - -“Charge――cartridge!” - -The powder was dumped into the muzzles, and the ball and cartridge -paper for a wad, were forced in after. - -“Draw――rammer!” - -“Ram――cartridge!” - -“Return――rammer!” - -“Shoulder――arms!” - -Or perhaps―― - -“Ready!” - -“Aim!” - -And while one held one’s breath, expecting a volley―― - -“Recover――arms!” - -This left them at a “ready,” again. - -“That load in twelve times is only for discipline,” Hannibal scoffed. -“To teach ’em to work together. Load in four times is the Regulars’ -way, by count――one, two, three, four. But mostly it’s ‘Load at -will――load!’ I’d hate to be a Volunteer. They can fight, though. Yes, -siree; they can fight. They’re not much on discipline, and they yell -and sing and straggle while marching; but when they see the enemy――my -eye!” - -These Volunteers were indeed a lively and good-natured if rather rough -set. When drill was over they raced for their messes and proceeded to -loll about and cook and eat and sing, as if they had no thought in the -world except to picnic. The rust on their guns and the length of their -beards never bothered them at all. - - Here’s a health to all them that we love, - Here’s a health to all them that love us, - Here’s a health to all them that love those that love them - That love those that love them that love us! - -This was the song of one group, who were drinking from tin cups. - - Molly is the gal for me―――― - -sang another group. And―― - - Upon the hill he turned, - To take a last fond look - Of the valley and the village church, - And the cottage by the brook. - He listened to the sounds, - So familiar to his ear, - And the soldier leant upon his sword - And wiped away a tear. - -A tall bearded Tennesseean was singing that, while his companions -listened soberly. - -But a chorus welled and spread until all the groups were joining in. - - Green grow the rushes, O! - Green grow the rushes, O! - The sweetest hours that e’er I spend - Are spent among the lasses, O! - -“They sang that stuff all through Texas and North Mexico,” said -Hannibal. “It’s the Mohawk war cry. And the Mexicans think it’s a -sort of national song, like some of theirs. You ought to hear ’em try -to sing it themselves. ‘Gringo, gringo,’ they say, instead of ‘Green -grow,’ and they call the Americans ‘gringos’!” - -“That’s right; they do,” Jerry agreed, remembering the two Manuels and -other Vera Cruzans. “They called me a ‘gringo’ whenever they were mean, -but it wasn’t Spanish and they didn’t seem to know where it came from. -‘Gringo!’ Huh!” - -Now he understood at last. - -“Well, I’ve got to go back for that blamed ‘retreat,’” Hannibal -grumbled. “Thunder! I never did see the use in all this parading every -day.” Which was an odd remark for a Regular and a veteran. - -They were just leaving the mess fires of the Mohawks, when there -was a great shout of laughter, and out of the brush here came a big -Illinoisan, a dead turkey in one hand and his long musket in the other, -driving before him two ragged Mexicans. - -“What you got there, Bill?” - -“Part the Mexican army, boys. ’Peared like they were going to ambush -me and take this turkey; but I said ‘Nary, Mary Ann,’ and fetched ’em -along with help of old Sal.” And he flourished his gun. - -[Illustration: “’PEARED LIKE THEY WERE GOING TO AMBUSH ME AND TAKE THIS -TURKEY”] - -“We meant no harm, good Americanos,” the Mexicans whined. “We are only -poor countrymen.” - -“Pass your turkey over to us,” the soldiers cried, to Bill. “Tell your -_paisanos_ to git and come back with the rest of their army.” - -“I know them!” Jerry exclaimed. “They aren’t in the army. They’re brush -cutters.” He ran aside. “Hello, Manuel.” - -The two Manuels had been cringing and smiling and repeating: “Good -Americanos! Valiant soldiers! Do not harm us, and God will reward you.” -They saw Jerry, and recognized him. “Gringo puppy,” they hissed. “Where -have you been?” - -“Yes, I’m a gringo,” Jerry answered. “And I’m in the army of the -Americans. You said they couldn’t take Vera Cruz. What do you say now?” - -“They took Vera Cruz by standing off and killing all the people,” old -Manuel snarled, in Spanish. “But wait, till they try to march on. Our -Santa Anna and fifty thousand brave men are coming to meet them. Hear -that, gringito? You’ll wish you’d stayed in the brush with old Manuel.” - -Jerry laughed. He told Hannibal what had been said, and Hannibal -laughed. As they went on they looked back. The two Manuels were -scuttling out of the camp, unharmed, for the soldiers were more -interested in the turkey. - -Teams and cavalry mounts, and wagons and supplies were very slow in -arriving, so that the army stayed in camp at Vera Cruz for over a week -without a move. The yellow fever increased――only the fresh lively air -blown in by the northers had held it down; and as soon as the northers -ceased then the vomito would rage as usual. A large number of the men, -especially the Volunteers, were ill with disease caused by drinking bad -water and by over-eating. - -General Scott reorganized the army for the march inland. The general -orders changed the assignment of the regiments very little, and left -them as follows: - -First Regular Division, Brevet Major-General William J. Worth -commanding: Light Battery A, Second Artillery; Second Artillery, eight -companies, as infantry; Third Artillery, four companies, as infantry; -Fourth Infantry, six companies; Fifth Infantry, six companies; Sixth -Infantry, five companies; Eighth Infantry, seven companies. - -Second Regular Division, Brigadier-General David E. Twiggs commanding: -Light Battery K, First Artillery; howitzer and rocket company; Mounted -Rifles, nine companies; First Artillery as infantry; Fourth Artillery, -six companies, as infantry; Second Infantry, nine companies; Third -Infantry, six companies; Seventh Infantry, six companies. - -Third or Volunteer Division, Major-General Robert Patterson commanding: -Third Illinois, Fourth Illinois; Second New York, ten companies; -First Tennessee, Second Tennessee; First Pennsylvania, ten companies; -Second Pennsylvania, ten companies; South Carolina, eleven companies; -Kentucky, and a detachment of Tennessee cavalry. - -The enlistment term of the Georgians and Alabamans had almost expired, -so they were not included. - -The company of engineers, which contained Captain Lee and Lieutenant -McClellan and Lieutenant Beauregard and other smart young officers, was -independent; and so were the ordnance or heavy artillery company and -the dragoons. - -Each division had been broken into brigades as before; and although -Jerry’s Fourth Infantry and Hannibal’s Eighth Infantry were still in -separate brigades they were in the First Division, anyway. - -Subtracting the General Quitman brigade of South Carolinans (the -Palmettos), Alabamans and Georgia Crackers, and the Tennessee cavalry, -who were to garrison Vera Cruz, the army numbered between eight and -nine thousand officers and men――not many for a march into Mexico and a -fight with General Santa Anna’s thirty or fifty thousand. - -Jerry proceeded to learn the drum, with Hannibal as instructor. The -drumsticks proved tricky――there seemed to be a lot of rigmarole and -Hannibal was a hard drillmaster; but who might tell what would happen -in the coming battles? Young Rome, drummer boy in the Twiggs division, -had been disabled already. So it behooved a fellow to be prepared to -fill a vacancy. - -For the army there were drills and evolutions “in masse,” as they were -styled, with General Scott himself commanding. And a grand spectacle -that was, when the infantry wheeled, and the artillery galloped, and -the dragoons spurred, all upon the plain under the walls of Vera Cruz -crowded with townspeople, gathered to view the sight. - -On the evening of April 7 there was a last parade by the troops -together, and a speech by General Scott, in which he promised that if -the men would follow him he would take them through. - -In his gold-buttoned blue frock coat, and his gold-braided blue -trousers, with gold epaulets on his broad shoulders and a gold sash -around his waist and a plumed cockaded chapeau upon his grizzled head, -his tasseled sword in its engraved scabbard hanging at his side, he -sat his horse and thundered his words so that almost every ear could -hear. He called the troops “My brave boys”――and at the close of the -speech they roundly cheered their “Old Fuss and Feathers,” the “Hero -of Chippewa”――that battle in the War of 1812 where he showed the enemy -that the American infantry was equal to the best. - -The march onward was supposed to commence the next day, April 8; but―― - -“’Peahs laike we Gin’ral Worth men ain’t gwine,” Pompey complained. “I -heah Lieutenant Smith sayin’ we ain’t gwine yet. We-all got to stay. -Wha’ fo’ we-all called Fust Division, when we ain’t fust?” - -Jerry had seen little of Lieutenant Grant lately; the lieutenant had -been acting as quartermaster of the Fourth and was kept busy. Now when -asked about the march, he replied shortly: - -“Yes. The Second Division leads. General Worth is required here; but -you can depend upon it we’ll be on hand for the fighting.” - - - - -IX - -THE HEIGHTS OF CERRO GORDO - - -“The general’s gone, as I suppose you know, Grant,” Lieutenant Smith -remarked to Lieutenant Grant, at dinner this noon. - -The day was April 12. The camp was much smaller than it had been -throughout the week following the fall of Vera Cruz. Early in the -morning of April 8 the Second Division had marched away, with the -fifes and drums and the bands playing Yankee Doodle. Preceded by the -two horse companies of the Mounted Rifles the long column had wound -out over the National Road for the City of Mexico, two hundred and -seventy-five or eighty miles westward, as the road ran. - -General Scott had been growing impatient with the delays in the arrival -of wagons and animals. He wished to move all the troops to Jalapa, at -least, which was in the mountains about seventy miles west. There they -would be free of the dreaded vomito. - -So on the next day, April 9, the General Patterson Third Division of -Volunteers had started. General Patterson himself was on sick list, and -General Pillow commanded in his place. The Mohawks had stumped gaily -out, singing and shouting. - -The general orders had directed that each division take a wagon train -carrying six days’ rations for the men and three days’ oats for the -animals. There would be little forage on the way to the City of Mexico -until Jalapa had been reached, in the high country. After the Mohawk -division had left, there were plenty of wagons but few animals -remaining for the First Division. The Mexican horses and mules were -small, poor creatures. Beside them the American animals were giants. A -siege train of six heavy guns was being prepared also. And the First -Division had had to wait. - -But now―― - -“The general gone?” Lieutenant Grant answered. “That’s good news. We’ll -soon be gone, too, then.” - -“Yes; and we’re in for a lively brush, according to reports. Twiggs and -Patterson have run up against the whole Mexican army at Plan del Rio, -fifty miles inland. Santa Anna’s said to be there in person, with all -the troops he can muster, on the hills commanding the road where it -passes through a gorge in climbing the mountains. So the general has -set out with Lee and Phil Kearny’s First Dragoons to see for himself. -We’ll be needed, all right.” - -“I’ll make application to be relieved of this quartermaster duty and -permitted to serve with my company,” Lieutenant Grant declared. “I -wouldn’t miss that battle for a thousand dollars.” - -“Lieutenant Grant, he want to fight,” Pompey chuckled, while he and -Jerry cleared away the mess dishes after dinner. “What you gwine to do, -when dey’s a-fightin’ dem Mexicans?”. - -“Going to keep along where I can see, anyhow,” Jerry asserted. - -“Sho’, now; battlefield’s no place fo’ boys,” Pompey rebuked. “Ain’t -no place fo’ dis nigger, neither. You an’ me is nuncumbatants. We got -to tend to camp, so’s to have hot victuals ready. Fightin’ is powerful -hungry work.” - -This afternoon orders were issued to the regiments of the First -Division to prepare to break camp in the morning. That was good news -to everybody. Hannibal was as jubilant as the rest. There were all -kinds of rumors but they sifted down to the one fact: that General -Santa Anna, who had been so badly defeated by General Taylor on -Washington’s Birthday last February, at Buena Vista in northeastern -Mexico, had moved his forces eight hundred miles across the mountains -and deserts clear to the City of Mexico, had rallied another large army -of Regulars, National Guards and Volunteers, and was now fortified two -hundred miles east of the city――and all in time to confront the army of -General Scott! - -The First started the next morning, April 13, accompanied by the -engineers and a detachment of the Second Dragoons. Light marching -orders was the word――but at that, what with the muskets which weighed -fourteen pounds, and the cartridge boxes which weighed eight pounds, -and the haversacks and knapsacks and blanket rolls and heavy belts, -the canteens of water, bayonets in scabbards, and so forth, every man -carried about forty pounds not including his woollen clothing. The -tents and the extra clothing were left at Vera Cruz; Lieutenant Smith -and Lieutenant Grant left their chests and spare outfits――and Jerry -rejoiced, for he now had little to guard. He could do about as he -pleased, except he had to tend camp when necessary. But everybody took -three days’ rations. - -Thereupon he boldly marched beside Company B, Lieutenant Grant’s -company. - -Only General Quitman, with the South Carolinans, the Georgians and the -Alabamans and most of the Tennessee horse, remained in Vera Cruz. - -The column of cavalry, artillery and infantry stretched long. The -canteens and the tin cups clinked, the heavy shoes clumped, the dragoon -horses clattered, the artillery and the wagons rumbled, and the dust -rose in a white cloud. - -Trudge, trudge, trudge, with the bands and the fifes and drums playing -marching tunes――“Yankee Doodle,” “Will You Come to the Bower” (the -Texas battle song of independence, that), “Turkey in the Straw,” “Hail, -Columbia!”, and so on, and the men marching at will. The dragoons and -General Worth and staff headed the column, the guns of Colonel Duncan’s -flying battery came next, the sturdy infantry and the artillery serving -as infantry followed, the wagon train toiled in the rear. And midway -Jerry, clad in an old cut-down pair of army trousers, and an old army -shirt, with a ragged straw hat on his crown and no shoes on his feet, -ambled beside Company B, keeping as close to Lieutenant Grant as he -dared. Pompey was somewhere, probably stealing a ride in one of the -wagons. - -The road was a poor road for one called “National,” the main road to -the capital. It was ankle deep in sand. Soon the soldiers were sweating -and panting. When a halt was made about three miles out, at a stream, -they began to overhaul their knapsacks and haversacks, and throw things -away. Presently the route was strewn with stuff, although the wise ones -hung to their blankets and great-coats and rations, if nothing else. - -Trudge, trudge, clinkity-clink, all that day, and all the next day, -while the mountains gradually loomed higher and higher before. On the -third day they had arrived at the Puente National, or National Bridge, -where the road crossed the Antigua River. Now the mountains and the -Plan del Rio were only sixteen miles onward. - -General Worth ordered camp here to rest the division. He himself went -forward to consult with General Scott. This day of April 16 was a -nervous day in the bivouac. The men all were held together, forbidden -to wander from the lines. But the dragoons who reconnoitred ahead said -that they had seen the Twiggs and Patterson divisions encamped and -waiting down near Plan del Rio village beside the Rio del Plan, at the -foot of the mountains――probably right under the Mexican army. - -An aide brought back orders from General Worth. Hannibal saw him come -galloping, and soon knew what was up. - -“Reveille is to sound at eleven-thirty to-night, and we’re to move camp -in the dark.” - -“Then what, Hannibal?” Jerry asked. - -“Tell you later. A battle, I expect. Old Fuss and Feathers will have a -scheme.” - -The men slept on the ground without tents, Lieutenant Smith and -Lieutenant Grant did not undress, for what was the use? Reveille -sounded at eleven-thirty, the assembly followed, and the companies -fell in, the men yawning and grumbling. The night was pitchy dark; the -column went stumbling up the road, with the soldiers staggering aside -as if asleep on their feet. It seemed as though that night’s march -never would end; and at daybreak, when halt was sounded, everybody was -glad indeed. - -But what a panorama that was as the sun rose. It was well worth staying -awake for. Yonder, below the slope up which the night’s march had led, -there appeared the camps of the two other divisions, near the little -village in a level bottom or valley. The river issued from a gorge in -the mountains and flowed rapidly down past the village, on the left or -south. There were precipices and high hills on both sides of it; and -on the right or north the National Road, obliquing from the river and -village, zigzagged up into the hills, and crossed the mountains. - -This was the Pass of Cerro Gordo. The highest crest――a huge round-topped -hill――four miles distant in the midst of the other hills along the road, -was Cerro Gordo itself: Big Mountain, or Telegraph Hill. The officers -said that with their glasses they could see the Mexican flags floating -from its very summit, over batteries, and over a stone tower. - -“Gin’ral Scott, he got to shed his coat an’ get to work, I reckon,” -declared Pompey, who had appeared at each night’s camp. “How we-all -gwine to trabbel on with dose Mexicans rollin’ rocks down on us? An’ -dar ain’t no road ’t all odder side the ribber. ’Spec’ we mought have -to make wings an’ fly ober dose mountings. Don’t see no odder way.” - -Aha! The troops below were already in motion. At any rate, one column -was moving out, and filing into the hills on the north of the road. -Marched like Regulars; must be the Second Division! Was the battle -about to begin, before the First Division received orders? But when, -after a hasty breakfast, the division hurried down and camped near the -Third Division, soldier talk explained matters. - -The Second and Third Divisions had been here two or three days, lying -low and wondering how to get past Cerro Gordo. When the Third had -joined the Second, General Twiggs had decided to storm Cerro Gordo, -anyhow, and had given instructions to General Pillow. He was a fighting -man, this General Twiggs. But General Patterson had heard and had -galloped forward from his bed to take command and veto the orders. -Being a major-general, he outranked Old Davy, who was only a brigadier. -The men had been rather glum at the idea of storming Cerro Gordo from -the road――that looked like a sure-death job; and when they learned that -nothing would be done until General Scott came in, they felt mightily -relieved. - -General Scott had arrived on the fourteenth. He immediately sent -Captain Lee of the engineers out to examine the country. Captain -Lee reported that by following a deep brushy ravine around to the -northwest, if the guns and men could be got through then Cerro Gordo -might be flanked and attacked from the rear. Santa Anna faced the -road, of course, thinking that the principal attack would be made from -that. The Americans were not goats or rabbits; they would have to -march by the road. And Cerro Gordo and the other batteries (quite a -number) commanded all the zigzags and switchbacks by entrenchments and -breastworks two miles in length. His artillery and his muskets, manned -by twelve or thirteen thousand soldiers, would simply pulverize that -road. - -It had looked like a problem to General Twiggs and Generals Pillow and -Patterson; but Captain Lee seemed to have solved the problem. General -Scott approved the plan. Pioneers were dispatched at once to open a -trail around to the north that cannon might be hauled; the Second -Division had marched this morning, to take position and seize, as was -said, a hill that the Mexicans had neglected to fortify. - -The day, April 17, was a fine one, with just a little sea breeze -wafting in from the gulf and Vera Cruz, fifty miles east. The stars and -stripes fluttered over the camps of the First and Third Divisions; but -the Second Division apparently did not intend to come back. Upon the -mountain crests three and four miles west the Mexican flags fluttered. -All was quiet there. General Santa Anna seemed to have no suspicion -that anything especial was happening. He waited for the Americans to -advance. General Scott knew exactly what was happening and what was -going to happen. He issued his orders for battle. - -First they were given to the division commanders. The division -adjutants furnished copies of them to the brigade commanders; the -brigade adjutants transmitted them to the regimental commanders; and -soon the company officers who were keen knew them also. - -“Now we gwine to see what kind ob strateegis’ Gin’ral Scott am,” Pompey -pronounced. For Lieutenant Grant had made a copy of the orders where -posted, and he and Lieutenant Smith discussed them. - -“The enemy’s whole line of entrenchments and batteries will be -attacked in front, and at the same time turned, early in the day -to-morrow――probably before ten o’clock A.M.,” said the first paragraph -of these General Orders No. 111. - -“Hi golly!” Pompey chuckled. “We gwine to slam him in the face an’ in -the back, same time. Dat’s proper.” - -“The Second Division of Regulars is already advanced within easy -turning distance toward the enemy’s left. That division has instructions -to move forward before daylight to-morrow, and take up position across -the National Road in the enemy’s rear, so as to cut off a retreat toward -Jalapa.” - -“We got dose Mexicans retreatin’ already,” chuckled Pompey, while Jerry -listened with all his ears. - -The Second Division was to be reinforced by General Shields’ brigade of -Volunteers. - -“The First Division of Regulars will follow the movement against the -enemy’s left at sunrise to-morrow morning.” - -“Hi! Dat’s us,” Pompey announced. “We gwine to be dar fo’ the leavin’s.” - -General Pillow’s brigade of Volunteers was to attack from the front, or -the river side, as soon as he heard the sounds of battle in the north. - -“The enemy’s batteries being carried or abandoned, all our divisions -and corps will pursue with vigor. The pursuit may be continued many -miles, until stopped by darkness or fortified positions, toward Jalapa. -Consequently, the body of the army will not return to this encampment, -but be followed to-morrow afternoon or early the next morning, by the -baggage trains of the several corps.” - -General Scott therefore was confident. He had no notion of being -beaten; he made no mention of what to do in case that his troops were -driven back. All his order read: “Go ahead.” - -“Twiggs has the honors this time,” Lieutenant Smith remarked. “Why, -that old fire-eater will capture the whole bag before the rest of us -ever catch up with him!” - -The Second had a good head start, at least. Then, shortly after noon, a -wave of heavy gunfire rolled in from the northwest――the direction taken -by the Twiggs division. Great clouds of smoke welled up, three miles -distant; the heights of Cerro Gordo were veiled, and the smoke extended -down and rose again. - -The Second Division was in battle! General Scott evidently had expected -this. In about an hour the long roll beat for General Shields’ brigade, -in the Volunteer camp; out they went, at quick time――the Second New -York and the Third and Fourth Illinois, and three twenty-four-pounders. - -General Scott himself might be seen, sitting his horse, upon a little -rise of the valley bottom, gazing steadily at the smoke through his -glass. Very calm and collected he appeared. His aides galloped forward -as if to get the news. - -All that afternoon the booming of cannon and the drumming of musketry -continued. No bad news came back. At sunset the firing died away. -An aide from General Twiggs raced in and reported to General Scott. -Speedily there were cheers. - -Captain Gore of the company hastened forward to learn what he might. He -returned. - -“The movement by General Twiggs has been entirely successful, men. -The American flag is now established upon a hill directly opposite -Telegraph Hill, within easy range of the rear of the enemy’s defenses. -Colonel Harney’s Mounted Rifles and the First Artillery, supported by -the Seventh Infantry, carried it in gallant style, and General Shields’ -brigade is reinforcing with men and guns. The first stage of the battle -has been won.” - -“An’ will we get into the foight, cap’n, plaze, sorr?” old Sergeant -Mulligan asked. - -“We’ll do our level best, sergeant. All we want is the chance.” - -This was an uneasy night. The men persisted in talking among themselves -until late. The veterans who had fought in other battles cracked jokes -and told stories, and the few new men were nervous. The sergeants and -corporals in vain cautioned: “Silence! Go to sleep.” - -Lieutenant Grant lay under his blanket in the open, for the tents -were far behind. The night was sultry; showers of rain fell, wetting -the blankets. Pompey himself chattered less than usual and Jerry felt -serious. To-morrow there was going to be a great battle of eight -thousand American soldiers against twelve thousand Mexican soldiers, -strongly fortified on the hills. - -“Cerro Gordo hill is the key to the field,” Lieutenant Grant had said -“That of course must be taken, and all the operations will concentrate -upon it.” - -The First Division did not know till later, but all this night the -Illinois and New York Volunteers were working like Trojans, dragging -the three twenty-four-pounders, under direction of Captain Lee and -Lieutenant Hagner of the Ordnance, through the brush and over the -rocks and tree trunks, and up the hill. The men were divided into two -detachments. One detachment rested while the other detachment hauled -and shoved; then the working detachment blocked the wheels and lay -panting while the first detachment buckled to. It was not until three -o’clock in the morning, that amidst the darkness and the rain the three -guns were placed in position to open fire upon Telegraph Hill. - -Down in the camp at Plan del Rio reveille was sounded before daylight. -Breakfast was eaten in the pink of dawn. And listen! The day’s battle -had commenced! Cannon were bellowing from the Second Division’s -hill――sending grape and solid shot into the Mexican entrenchments upon -Telegraph Hill. The Mexicans were replying. - -Huzzah! The long roll sounded, signaling to the men to be alert. - -“Fall in! Fall in!” the sergeants shouted; and the assembly was not -needed. Company B was ready in a jiffy, the men with muskets in hand, -their cartridge boxes and bayonet scabbards in place, their knapsacks -and their haversacks with two days’ rations hanging from their -shoulders. They formed a single rank facing to the right. - -“Front face!” - -They faced together, in company front. - -“In three ranks, form company! By the left flank! Left face! March!” -barked First Sergeant Mulligan. - -That done, Company B was three men (or files) deep; and Sergeant -Mulligan turned it over to Captain Gore. - -“Number off!” the captain ordered. - -The men numbered. - -“Shoulder――arms! To the rear, open order――march! Front!” - -Now the company was in opened ranks. The lieutenants and the first -sergeant quickly passed behind, examining the cartridge boxes to see -that all were filled. - -“Fix――bayonets!” - -“Close order――march!” - -To the color had been sounded. - -“By the right flank――right face――forward――march!” And Company B marched -to its position at the head of the Fourth Regiment, for it was the -color company. - -Jerry followed. He had no idea of being left behind; he determined to -keep his eyes upon Lieutenant Grant, and he paid no attention to the -whereabouts of Pompey. - -General Worth, stately and handsome, his black eyes flashing, was -sitting his horse. Colonel Garland, of the First Brigade, issued sharp -orders, which were repeated by the galloping brigade adjutant to the -regimental commanders, and by them to the company officers. The gunfire -among the hills had waxed tremendous. The General Pillow brigade of -Volunteers was about to move. - -General Worth lifted his sword――his orders had meant “Forward!” The -companies broke into platoons and away they tramped, at quick step, in -long column again, the fifes and drums playing merrily. The Pillow -brigade was coming. Those Pennsylvanians and Tennesseeans had been -directed to storm Telegraph Hill from in front, if possible; they had -several batteries to carry, first. No pleasant job, that; and all as a -feint to hold the Mexicans occupied on the roadside. - -The First Division branched to the right, and into the brush through -which the pioneers had hacked a rough trail. The faces of the soldiers -were stern; some white, some red, with excitement. The battle clamor -arose so loud that the drums and fifes could scarcely be heard. A dense -cloud of smoke covered the hills before. Were those cheers, mingled -with the bellowing of cannon and the roll of muskets? From whom――the -Mexicans or the blue-coats? Jerry stumbled as he half ran, trying to -stay close to Lieutenant Grant. - -The trail was cumbered with tree trunks and rocks and cactus. After a -time the Fourth Regiment rounded the base of a hill, and emerged at a -ravine running crosswise, at the very foot of Telegraph Hill itself. -Upon the top of the first hill cannon were thundering. And look! The -hither slope of the other hill was alive with men, toiling up in -ragged lines, following the colors. They were blue-coats――Regulars! -The standard of the Mounted Rifles waved on the left, in the ravine. -The Mexican batteries and entrenchments were shooting down upon the -storming columns, the Rifles were deploying and facing a charge -upon the stormers’ flank; and from the top of the first hill the -twenty-four-pounders were pouring grape and ball across, into the -higher hill, El Telegrapho. - -“Huzzah! Huzzah! Huzzah!” The First Division quickened pace, so eager -the men were to get into the fight. - -“Form company! First platoon――right oblique――quick――march!” And――“Left -into line, wheel!” the adjutant shouted. - -“To the left, into line――quick――march!” shouted Captain Gore to Company -B. - -The men obeyed at a run. The division was forming line of battle. - -“Forward――center guide――quick time――march!” - -The drums tapped briskly. They had crossed the head of the ravine, -they began to scramble up the slope, at last, in the wake of the -Second Division stormers. The brush and rocks were reddened, strewn -with knapsacks, and dotted with dead and wounded; the climb was very -steep. A perfect pandemonium raged above. Bullets and grape-shot were -whistling overhead. The men gripped their muskets and peered and -panted. Huzzah! But what’s the cheering for? For General Scott! Here he -stood, as large as life, in his full uniform, gazing through his glass -up the hill, marking the progress of the charge. He looked as cool and -confident as if watching a parade. - -“Huzzah for Old Fuss and Feathers! Huzzah! Huzzah!” - -Company B passed close to him. He waved encouragingly. - -“On, my brave boys!” he said. - -Next there were breastworks, bloodied and trampled. The Mexicans had -already been driven out of these. Scrambling inside, Jerry almost -stepped upon a drum――a drum, drumsticks, cross-belt harness and all. -It was a Mexican drum, but differing little from a United States outfit -except the Mexican eagle instead of the American eagle upon the brass -plates. So he grabbed it up quick, and lugging it on, trying to sling -it, he pursued the line. - -The slope continued. A breeze was wafting away the smoke; the stars and -stripes and the regimental flags of the stormers had advanced far; and -the blue ragged line, rushing, resting, and rushing again, pressing -after the streaming folds and after a single figure, who, sword -flashing, kept in the lead. - -The drum bothered Jerry. When he had slipped into the cross-belts they -were so long that the drum struck his shins, and the best that he could -do was to carry it in his arms. His own battle line had forged well -ahead of him; and when, dipping into a hollow, and clambering up out, -still following Company B, he might glimpse the stormers again, he -heard a hearty burst of cheers and yells. - -Huzzah! Huzzah! The hurrying First Division was cheering――echoing -the cheers from the top of the hill. From the stone tower above a -blue regimental flag was flying――and the stars and stripes; the -Mexican flag had come down. The American soldiers were springing -upon the breastworks just beyond, wielding their bayonets as they -disappeared――other American flags had been planted――the red caps of the -Mexican defenders surged backward, and eddying and tossing broke into -numerous rivulets flowing tumultuously across the hill, to the south, -for the road below. - - - - -X - -JERRY JOINS THE RANKS - - -El Telegrapho Hill――Cerro Gordo, the Big Hill――had been taken. When -Jerry, lugging his precious drum, joined the Fourth Infantry the blue -coats were swarming over the flat top, taking prisoners, and the -Mexican rout was tearing down in the south making for the Jalapa road. - -From the northwest edge of the hill another storming column had -entered. This was the Second Infantry and Fourth Artillery, under -Colonel Bennet Riley, of the Second Brigade, who had been ordered to -make a half circuit. But they had arrived too late. Colonel Harney, the -dragoon, and his Third and Seventh Infantry and First Artillery had -captured the hill themselves. Those were the flags of the Third, the -Seventh and the First. The flag of the Seventh had been raised first. -Quartermaster-Sergeant Henry, of the Seventh, had been the man who had -hauled down the Mexican flag from the flagpole on the stone tower, and -the Seventh’s color-bearers had instantly raised their own standards. - -The battle was won, but not all over. Colonel Riley at once launched -his column in pursuit of the fleeing Mexicans. General Shields’ -Volunteers――the Third and Fourth Illinois and the New Yorkers――were -attacking in the west, to seize the batteries there and cut in to the -Jalapa road. Cannon were booming in the south, where General Pillow’s -Tennesseeans and Pennsylvanians and a company of Fourth Kentuckians -were being held at bay still. But the hill of Cerro Gordo commanded all -the country; it was the key, and in the Mexican batteries around white -flags were being hoisted. Detachments were sent by General Worth, who -was senior officer here, to take possession. The firing died away. - -On the top of the hill all was excitement. The dead and wounded were -thick. The Rifles came up from the ravine where they had checked a -charge of the Mexicans to turn Colonel Harney’s left; their band was -bringing a lot of prisoners, to the tune of Yankee Doodle. The men of -the storming columns were loud in their praises of Colonel Harney. It -was he who had led, bare-headed and sword in hand. The fifteen hundred -of them had taken the hill, defended by breastworks and the stone tower -and six thousand Mexican soldiers. Huzzah! Huzzah! Huzzah! - -And now here was General Scott, on his horse. The men ran for him, -the wounded crawled nearer or feebly cheered; tears were flooding his -grizzled cheeks; he removed his hat, and his voice trembled. - -“Brother soldiers! I am proud to call you brothers, and your country -will be proud to hear of your conduct this day. Our victory has cost us -the lives of a number of brave men, but they died fighting for their -country. Soldiers, you have a claim on my gratitude for your conduct -this day which I will never forget.” - -He beckoned to Colonel Harney, and held out his hand to him. - -“Colonel Harney, I cannot now fully express my admiration of your -gallant achievement, but at the proper time I shall take great pleasure -in thanking you in proper terms.” - -He put his chapeau back upon his grey head and slowly rode on. Every -few paces he halted to bend and speak with the wounded. - -Lieutenant Grant was untouched; so were Captain Gore and Lieutenant -Smith; the Fourth Infantry, and in fact, the whole of the First -Division had escaped all accident save by a few spent balls. It was -said that General Shields of the Volunteers had been mortally wounded -by a bullet through the chest――had a hole in him the size of one’s -fist! Major Sumner of the Second Dragoons had been wounded. Lieutenant -Thomas Ewell of the Rifles, but serving in the charge, had been the -first officer to spring upon the breastworks at the tower and had been -shot down. He and Colonel Harney and Quartermaster-Sergeant Henry (who -had hauled down the Mexican flag there) were the heroes of the hour. - -Santa Anna had fled, when he saw the hill being taken. General Vasquez, -of his infantry, was lying dead here (a fine looking man, who had -fallen shot through the head, but his face to the foe); other generals -were surrendering――General Vega, who had been fighting off the Pillow -Volunteers, near the river, had surrendered all his force. How many -Mexicans had been captured and what the losses were on both sides -nobody yet knew. - -Hugging his drum and roaming over the battlefield, Jerry met Hannibal. -They shook hands and danced. - -“What you got there, boy?” - -“A drum. Found it on the way up.” - -“Mexican drum, huh? Going to keep it?” - -“Guess so. Can’t I?” - -“Sure you can. You may get a chance to be a drummer. We can fix it -over. But hurrah! Didn’t we do the business, though? Took the works -just as Fuss and Feathers said. Never a hitch. Pillow was licked, at -first, but that made no difference; nobody expected him to do more than -hold the enemy’s attention. Twiggs and Riley’s brigade are cleaning up -the country west, and the dragoons are right on Santa Anna’s heels. Now -we won’t stop again till we’re in the Halls of Montezuma. There’s the -long roll for the First. Good-by. We’re moving. Hang on to that drum.” - -The First Division had been directed to march for the road and support -the Riley brigade in pursuit of the Mexicans. It was now mid-afternoon. -Reports came back that the dragoons were pressing hard down the road, -and that the Mexicans were too long-legged for the infantry. Camp was -ordered for the night, just beyond the little village of Cerro Gordo, -in the pass. - -General Santa Anna’s headquarters camp had been here also. It and the -village had been seized by the Shields Volunteers and they were highly -excited. They had found Santa Anna’s carriage――a large gilded coach, -patterned after the State coach of Napoleon Bonaparte. But General -Santa Anna was not in it. He had cut the team loose and had fled upon -one of the mules. - -The Volunteers were passing a wooden leg around; said that it was Santa -Anna’s leg―― - -“No! His leg is cork.” - -“Well, this may be his reserve leg, mayn’t it? Next time we’ll capture -the cork leg and then he can’t run so fast.” - -And a group of other Volunteers were having a rough and tumble over -something upon the ground. - -It was a chest, burst open; a chest of Mexican money for the expenses -of Santa Anna’s army. The military chest, that is. The soldiers were -grabbing at the money; officers were trying to separate them. Suddenly -all stood aside and saluted, for General Scott was towering above, upon -his horse. - -“Let the boys have what is on the ground, officers,” he said. “They’ve -fought and worked all day and deserve what they get. The remainder will -be placed in charge of the chief quartermaster.” - -Pompey (Jerry had forgotten Pompey) arose from the bottom of the heap, -his black fists crammed with bills. He certainly had arrived here very -quickly; no doubt had come in one of the wagons sent forward to receive -wounded. - -“Yes, suh. Sojerin’ is powerful hahd work fo’ mighty little pay,” he -pronounced. “We-all near captured Santy Annie. We done made him pore; -he’s gwine to beg his victuals, that’s shuah.” Pompey saw Jerry and -grinned. “Howdy, boy. Where you been?” - -“Climbing Telegraph Hill with the troops.” - -“Huh!” Pompey grunted. “Wha’ fo’ you go to all dat work? I come ’round -by the road an’ ketch Santy Annie hyar. He run so fast he forgit his -laig an’ all his money. Jest slashed his mules from dat coach an’ -skadoodled. Where you find dat drum?” - -“In some breastworks.” - -“What you gwine to do with it?” - -“Keep it.” - -“’Spec’ you set big sto’ on bein’ a drummer.” - -“Shouldn’t wonder, Pompey.” - -“Dis chile’s so rich now he can be a gin’ral,” Pompey chuckled. -“He don’t have to sojer common. Yes, suh; Gin’ral Scott am a great -strateegis’.” - -The baggage train had not come in yet from Plan del Rio, and the camp -was only a plain bivouac of blankets and haversack rations. Having -little to do, Jerry was cautiously trying out his drum, when Lieutenant -Grant spoke to him. - -“You’ve won a drum, I see.” - -“Yes, sir.” - -“Can you play it?” - -“A little, is all; but I’m learning.” - -“You want to be a drummer boy, I suppose.” - -“Yes, sir.” - -“Well, you have a chance. One of the drummers of the Fourth broke his -leg on the way up the hill. He got in front of a spent solid shot. You -might report to Drum Major Brown and see if he can do anything for you. -I hope,” the lieutenant added, with a smile, “you can drum better than -you can cook or make a bed.” - -“Hope so, too, lieutenant,” Jerry answered. “Thank you, sir. Hooray!” - -Tall Drum Major Brown of the Fourth looked him over. - -“Lieutenant Grant sent you, eh? What can you do?” - -“I don’t know,” Jerry acknowledged. “I can’t cook.” - -“Looks like he’s found that out. Whenever a man’s good at nothing he -tries to join the band or the field music. Humph! Where’d you get that -drum?” - -“On the way up the hill.” - -“What were you doing there?” - -“Just following along, sir, to keep with the lieutenant and the -company.” - -“You’re the same young fellow who was in the naval battery, aren’t you?” - -“Yes, sir.” - -“Can you drum?” - -“Not much yet, but I’ll learn.” - -“Let’s hear you. Sound a roll.” - -Jerry did, after a fashion. - -“Tap common time.” - -Jerry did. - -“Now quick time.” - -Jerry did. - -“You’ve got a pretty good ear,” the drum major approved. “I’m a drummer -short. I’ll see what I can do for you, but of course I’ll have to ask -the adjutant. Anyway, you can fall in with the field music in the -morning for the march. Are those your best clothes?” - -“Yes, sir.” - -“Maybe we can rustle a uniform for you, and have a tailor fit it.” - -“Could I stay in Company B?” - -“Why?” - -“That’s my company, sir.” - -“Oh! Is it! Well, as happens, the vacancy is in Company C, and there -you go unless Sykes of Company B will exchange with you, and the -company officers don’t object.” - -“Thank you, Mr. Brown.” Jerry sped away to find Hannibal and practice -a few wrinkles. The two worked a long time, shortening the cross-belts -and adapting the drum so that it would hang properly. - - - - -XI - -IN THE WAKE OF THE FLEEING ENEMY - - -General Scott had lost three officers and sixty rank and file killed, -thirty officers and three hundred and thirty-six men wounded, with one -private missing. The Mexican killed and wounded were over one thousand; -five generals and three thousand other officers and men had been -taken, together with four or five thousand stands of small arms and -forty-three pieces of artillery. - -The surgeons thought that General Shields might get well; he had a -fighting chance. Major Sumner of the dragoons was going to travel in -the Santa Anna coach until he was strong enough to ride a horse again. - -The First Division was to push right onward, following up the retreat -of the eight thousand Mexicans who had escaped. The main part of the -Second Division and the ill General Patterson, with a portion of -the Volunteers, were camped farther along, up the road, but it was -understood that the First would soon have the honor of the advance, -because its men were fresh. And that was what the First desired: to get -ahead. It was tough to have missed out in the battle of Cerro Gordo. -Still, nothing could have stopped old Colonel Harney, once he was -started up that hill. - -Reveille had been ordered for four-thirty; and when Musicians’ Call -sounded for all the regimental field music to assemble at the guard -tent for roll-call, Jerry boldly appeared to answer the drum-major’s -inspection. Not much of a figure he cut, either, in his rags, and he -had no little fun poked at him; but he stuck and kept his place when -the drums and fifes formed at the head of the regiment for the march. - -It was a fine morning. General Scott had ridden on, with an escort, to -make his headquarters at Jalapa, sixteen miles beyond the pass. The -road was all littered with the spoils of war. The fleeing Mexicans -had thrown away everything: guns and overcoats and cartridge boxes, -knapsacks and haversacks. And soon worse signs of battle were to be -noted. Bodies of Mexican soldiers, cold and bloody, became thicker and -thicker. The dragoons had spurred along here, hot in pursuit of the -enemy. The skulls of most of the dead men had been split asunder by -sabers. The bodies were mainly those of Mexican lancers who had tried -to cover the retreat; but evidently the lancers had been no match for -the Second Dragoons led by Major Ben Beall, and Captain Phil Kearny’s -one company of the First. - -The bodies lay in the road and upon both sides all the way to Encerro, -eight miles. The majority of the dragoon horses had given out here; but -from Encerro (which was General Santa Anna’s country-place――or one of -several such places) to Jalapa there were still a few bodies, for some -of the dragoons had kept on through the whole sixteen miles. - -The road climbed. It was a paved road, broken into holes by the rains. -Beyond Encerro the country grew much better. More mountains loomed -before, huge and blue. As the road wound upward, there were green -trees and lively streams that emptied into an irrigating ditch skirting -the road; and corn, coffee, plantain and banana plantations with neat -white houses, instead of the cactus and brush and bare ground and huts -of the _tierra caliente_――the warm land of the lower yellow-fever -district. It all looked pretty good. - -“We’ll not starve hereabouts, that’s sure,” remarked the drummer who -was plying his sticks on Jerry’s left. - -By the time, early evening, that Jalapa was in sight the men were tired -again, and Jerry’s fingers were blistered with the drumsticks. Now the -road was lined on both sides with flowering shrubs and vines, and the -birds were singing loudly. - -General Worth directed the adjutant to have camp made on a piece of -high ground near the road. The drums beat the halt. The day’s up-hill -march had ended a short mile out of Jalapa. - -After the guards had been posted and supper had been eaten, everybody -was glad enough to turn in. Tattoo, to extinguish lights and be quiet, -was not needed. - -When reveille sounded at daybreak, the drummers and fifers saw a -beautiful scene indeed. The camp was above the clouds. Below, in the -east or the direction of Vera Cruz, a thunderstorm was raging; the -lightning darted through the clouds, which were white on top with the -rays of the unseen sun. Only twenty-five miles in the south old Orizaba -Peak shone like silver. Jerry frequently had seen it from Vera Cruz, -but never had it appeared so wonderful. And on before, in the west, -there was Jalapa, located between hills, with its white houses and red -roofs set amidst orchards and gardens. - -“Well, now I say that like as not we all were killed at Cerro Gordo and -have arrived in Heaven,” Drum Major Brown said. - -“That’s right; for according to the Spanish, they have a saying: -‘Jalapa is a small piece of Heaven fallen to earth,’” a fifer asserted. - -“You’re wrong there, and so are they,” corrected somebody. “Look -beyond. We’re going to be nearer Heaven than when down at Jalapy.” - -Back of Jalapa the real mountains began. They rose straight up, it -seemed, in a series of purple masses until their crests touched the sky. - -Halt was made at pretty Jalapa only long enough for General Worth -to receive fresh instructions from General Scott; and out the First -Division marched, leaving the Second Division behind, and the Patterson -Volunteers, and most of the dragoons. The First was in the advance at -last. - -Rumors stated that the First was to take the castle of Perote, -twenty-five miles on. Perote ranked second in strength to only San Juan -de Ulloa itself. But if one brigade of the Second Division had been -able to take Cerro Gordo Hill, the two brigades of the First felt able -to take Perote. - -The road climbed and climbed. The horses of the Duncan flying battery -of the Second Artillery, and those of the wagon train, had all they -could do, even when helped by men at the wheels. But the day was clear, -and an inspiring sight that was to look before and behind, and see the -serried column winding on, Captain Kearny’s Company K of the First -Dragoons ahead, General Worth and staff following; the artillery afoot, -and the infantry and their bands trudging gallantly after, and the -white-topped wagons bringing up the rear. - -“We’re surely bound to ‘see the elephant,’ as the Volunteers say,” -uttered Jerry’s neighbor, the thin drummer. - -That evening when bivouac was made they were almost six thousand feet -in air. The views had been marvelous. Jerry hastened to find Hannibal, -as usual, for talk and practice. On the way he passed Lieutenant Grant, -who stopped him as he saluted. - -“How do you like your new job by this time?” - -“First rate, sir. I’ll learn, the drum major says. Haven’t done so -awfully bad, but of course they’re easy on me. I don’t know much about -the drills yet.” - -“I don’t wonder. You were thrown right into things without previous -instruction on that line.” - -“Yes, sir. Do you think we’ll have a fight on the road, sir?” - -“There’s a chance. If the pass beyond, called La Joya, is held in force -it may give us a little trouble. But we can depend upon General Worth, -you know.” - -“Guess _so_, sir. How’s Pompey, lieutenant?” - -“Pompey? That black rascal? Oh, Pompey lost all his money the first -night to those gambler camp followers, and he’s down to plain cooking.” - -The lieutenant stepped on; Jerry saluted again and ran along. - -“La Joya? Sure thing,” Hannibal said “It’s like Cerro Gordo, and we’re -the men to take it.” - -The next day’s march was another stiff climb. Cherry trees and apple -trees were giving place to pines and firs. The soldiers puffed and -complained that their ears throbbed. It was slow work, toiling up -the long winding road. To-night there was rain, which by morning had -hardened to a heavy white frost. - -La Joya was not far now. The dragoons reconnoitred ahead; the gunners -of the Duncan battery rode with slow matches lighted. Presently the -road was about to skirt the base of a round-topped hill. The hill -looked as though it had been fortified, but when the Fourth marched by -it was seen that the breastworks had been abandoned. - -Beyond La Joya the road continued through a gorge two miles in length. -No guns were fired, no rocks were rolled, no Mexican flag was sighted. -The whole Mexican army had disappeared as if broken by the defeat at -Cerro Gordo. In fact, General Scott had announced in his dispatches: -“Mexico no longer has an army.” But when camp was made this evening, at -a deserted village, the men began to talk hopefully of Perote. - -Perote, ten or twelve miles westward and down, certainly would furnish -a fight. It was a town and a mountain and a fort, or castle. Everybody -living in Mexico knew of that famous castle, where prisoners were -confined in dungeons. And the mountain, called the Chest of Perote, was -the square black peak seen from Vera Cruz. The town, upon a plain under -the mountain, had a church with a very tall tower, visible for a great -distance from several directions. - -Jerry also banked on Perote, for he had been promised his uniform there -if the division stayed long enough to have it fitted. He needed the -uniform. His clothes were rather thin for use seven thousand feet up in -the mountains, and besides, what was a drummer boy without a uniform? -Luckily he had gained a pair of shoes from the spoils captured at Cerro -Gordo; and at Perote he would be full rigged, with sword, cap and -all; and Dick Sykes, the drummer of Company B, had agreed to exchange -companies with him. - -General Worth was in a hurry. He moved the division early in the -morning. About noon they saw Perote town, near at hand on the plain; -and the great castle, detached from it, guarding the road and the Chest. - -The column hastened, eager for action. The castle remained grim and -silent. General Worth sent forward a staff officer to demand its -surrender. The Mexican flag fluttered down. The staff officer returned. -Perote had yielded. - -General Worth established his headquarters in the town, but the camp -was ordered upon the plain, near the castle, about a mile from the -town. Colonel Vasquez, of the Mexican army, had been left here by -General Santa Anna to turn the castle over to the Americans――and that -seemed odd, for it contained fifty-four cannon (one of which had a bore -of seventeen inches across), eleven thousand balls, fourteen thousand -bombs and hand grenades, and five hundred muskets. It covered two -acres; and when the men were permitted to inspect it they found that -the walls were eight feet thick and sixty feet high, surrounded by a -moat fifteen feet deep and seventy-five feet wide. - -Nevertheless, the castle sat by itself on the plains; and while it -might have kept part of the army back to capture it, the rest of the -army could have marched on. General Santa Anna probably had his reasons -for abandoning it; he of course would make a stand somewhere else. - -During the few days’ camp at Perote Jerry got his uniform and -equipment――regulation cap, sword and buckles included――and felt -privileged to strut like a drummer boy indeed. Swapped companies with -Sykes, too. Took occasion to parade before Pompey, who scoffed at him. - -“Gwan, white boy. Who you? All stripes an’ no rank, dat what you be!” - -The outfit had come to him only just in time. The First Brigade was to -march on by itself at once. General Quitman had arrived at Jalapa from -Vera Cruz; the Second Brigade was to wait for him and his detachment of -Volunteers, while the First Brigade pushed ahead to open the country -farther. - -It was said that General Worth had received instructions from Old Fuss -and Feathers to proceed and seize the large city of Puebla, one hundred -miles westward and only ninety from the City of Mexico. Puebla had -sixty thousand people. Whether the First Brigade was to do this nobody -in the ranks knew, but the men all were ready to try. - -“If you fellows need help send back for us,” proffered Hannibal, whose -regiment, the Eighth, remained to help hold Perote and to wait for the -Quitman Mohawks. - -“We don’t figure on needing help, boy,” Jerry retorted. “Next time I -see you maybe it’ll be in the Halls of Montezuma.” - -The First Brigade set out gaily; General Worth and staff; Company A, -engineers, with Acting Captain George W. Smith, Lieutenant J. C. Foster -and the sprightly Lieutenant McClellan; Light Battery A and Companies -B, C, D, F, G, H, I and K, Second Artillery; Companies B, G and K, -Third Artillery; A, B, C, D, E and I, Fourth Infantry. They marched -up the National Road through fields of grain, around the base of dark -Pizarro Mountain (a lone peak higher than Perote Peak), and had covered -eighteen miles when halt was made for the night at a homely mud village. - -The country again grew better, displaying fruit orchards and green -ranches. A fight was rather expected at the pass of El Pinal, where the -road threaded a third narrow gorge in a range of bare, granite hills; -but although rocks had been heaped in readiness to be rolled down upon -the heads of any enemy, nobody was here to roll them. - -Beyond El Pinal the road issued upon a high, flat ridge. The column -suddenly forgot its weariness. Another stately view unfolded. In the -west there uplifted two splendid mountains. The highest, shining with -snow, was the famous Popocatepetl, or Smoky Mountain, three miles high. -The other, its comrade on the north of it, was――well, a jaw-breaker: -Iztaccihuatl. It, too, was a famous peak. The two of them overlooked -the City of Mexico. - -And between the flat ridge and the range of the two peaks there lay -the beautiful green valley of Puebla, dotted with the white-walled -country-houses of wealthy ranchers; and in the midst of the valley, -the roofs and spires of Puebla itself, twelve miles distant from the -ridge. - -So the column quick-stepped manfully, and with the fifes and drums -pealing descended to the pretty town of Amozoc, ten miles from the city -of Puebla. - -Amozoc proved to be a pleasant surprise. That had been a long and hard -march from Perote: with the days warm and showery, and the nights cold -and frosty, and the men sleeping on the ground in the dirt, without -tents, and trudging by day through mud and dust both. But here at -Amozoc, the alcalde or mayor met General Worth on the outskirts of the -town and invited him in, and when the column entered the women came -running from their adobe houses, bringing fruit and pitchers of cold -water. - -“They call Puebla the City of the Angels, do they? Faith, what’s the -matter with Amozoc? Here be rale angels.” - -“The first white women we’ve seen since Jalapy.” - -“Bless their purty faces an’ black eyes.” - -Such were the comments by the ranks behind the Fourth Infantry music. - -An aide came galloping back to Colonel Garland. - -“The general’s compliments, colonel, and he directs that you quarter -your infantry battalion in the town corral, near the plaza. I will show -you.” - -Presently the Fourth had stacked arms in the corral. - - - - -XII - -AN INTERRUPTED TOILET - - -The orders were to clean up, as if for inspection and parade. General -Worth was sending word forward to the city council of Puebla, giving -notice that he intended to occupy the city at once. Evidently he wished -to march in in style to make a showing, for Puebla was the second -largest city in Mexico. - -Jerry played in luck. He had kept his new uniform in the best of shape. -It would get shabby soon enough, like the other uniforms. His drum -shone. So he was done with his prinking early. The men generally were -taking their time, to rest and munch fruit. When he asked permission -to go for a stroll, Drum Major Brown said, having eyed him and seen -nothing wrong: - -“All right. Report in thirty minutes.” - -Tommy Jones, another smart drummer boy, from Company I, joined him. - -“What you lugging your drum for, Jerry?” - -“So nobody’ll spatter mud on it, of course.” - -“You’re a greenie yet,” Tom asserted. “When you’ve carried a drum as -long as I have you’ll be mighty glad to drop it.” - -“Well, I sha’n’t leave it, just the same. Some of those fellows would -put up a job on me to see how much I’ll stand.” - -Jerry continued, with his precious drum. The mud-fenced corral was an -odd sight as he and Tom hastened through to the gate. The men finally -had settled to work. They were in all stages of undress: some of them -were washing their faces and handkerchiefs and shirts at the watering -troughs, some were shaving, some were sitting and polishing their -jacket buttons with their “buff sticks,” which held each button in a -slot while rag and powder were used; some were shining their buckles, -or whitening their cross-belts with soap-stone, or cleaning their -shoes; and a number had their muskets apart and were scouring the rust -and dirt from locks, barrels and bayonets. - -Pompey was hard at it on the outfits of Lieutenant Smith and Lieutenant -Grant. - -“Where you gwine, stripes?” he demanded. “’Peahs laike you drummers -ain’t got nothin’ to do. I shuah’d laike to jine the music. Jest -tootle an’ thumpity-thump while we-all work. Where you gwine now, so -importinent? Mebbe Santy Anne done sent fo’ you to s’render.” - -“Mind you shine those buttons or you’ll get a whaling,” Jerry answered. -“I’ll be back to inspect.” - -“You go ’long, stripes,” growled Pompey. “I ain’t no sojer. I’se with -the offercers. Who you, to be so uppity? All stripes an’ no rank; that -you!” - -With Tom, Jerry hurried out. - -“Pobrecitos! Aqui, pobrecitos――here, poor little boys,” the -kind-hearted women greeted, inviting them to eat. But they had no time -for that if they wished to see the town. - -Somehow, the people of Amozoc were overcordial to an enemy. The North -Americans were invading their country――at Cerro Gordo probably had -killed Volunteers from this very place; and yet the citizens smiled -and bowed as if to friends. It struck Jerry as a game; he couldn’t put -much stock in all that palaver. He remembered the two Manuels. - -The town was not anything great to look at. It manufactured saddles and -fine inlaid spurs, and the best building was the principal church. The -church sat inside a fenced yard shaded by immense yew trees covered -with crimson-flowering vines――very curious. Two or three officers were -gazing about and talking with the priests. The doors were open. Taking -off his cap Jerry sidled in; Tom followed. - -“Dare you to climb that,” Tom challenged. - -It was a ladder, seen through the doorway of a closet in one corner, -and extending almost straight up into the belfry. - -“Never take a dare. You watch me,” said Jerry. - -“I’ll hold your drum.” - -“No, you won’t!” - -Lugging the drum slung behind him, Jerry was out of breath when he -emerged into the dusty belfry, beside the great copper bell. But he -was glad that he had come. What a view! He could see the road, in the -east, connecting with the plateau that they had crossed from El Pinal; -he could see the top of Pizarro Peak at Perote; and he didn’t know -but that he could see the dust of the Second Brigade and the Quitman -Mohawks coming on one day’s march late. - -He crept around the bell, and could see the brigade camp below. The -men, like specks, were washing up and mending clothes and whitening -belts in the corral and in the plaza where the artillery companies had -been quartered. He could see the specks of pickets, posted at the edge -of town. There in the west were snowy Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl, -sentinels over the Halls of Montezuma. And there, on this side of them, -was the city of Puebla of the Angels, sparkling in the afternoon sun. - -Then, as his eyes traveled, they lighted upon a real dust cloud, -slightly in the north, between Amozoc and Puebla. - -The cloud was advancing; yes, and rapidly. Whew! Cavalry, sure as -shooting. Mexican lancers! No other horsemen could be expected from -that direction, not in such a mass. The outpost guards had not seen -them yet. - -Like lightning Jerry twitched his drumsticks from his belt, jerked -his drum to the fore, and beat the long roll. R-r-r-r-r-r-r! -R-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r! And R-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r! -The stunning noise in the hollow belfry deafened him. It must have -fallen like a thunder clap upon the ears of the camp. As he plied the -drumsticks with his two hands he saw that the grouped specks had frozen -stone still, as if staring about to locate the alarm. - -He didn’t delay. Down he slid, down the ladder, never caring how he -landed――and he landed plump into somebody’s arms. They were Lieutenant -McClellan’s. - -“You young rascal! What’s the meaning of this racket? Who authorized -you to――――?” - -“The enemy, sir!” Jerry panted, not waiting. “They’re coming.” - -“How do you know?” - -“I saw their dust――――” - -“Where?” - -“Between here and Puebla――about five miles out――lancers, sir.” - -Away ran Lieutenant McClellan. - -“Golly!” blurted Tom, who had been listening with his mouth open. He, -too, ran, and Jerry after. They got to the corral just in time. All the -town had seemed to be excited, the pickets were firing alarm shots, the -long rolls were beating for artillery and infantry, officers and men -were hustling, and in the corral the Fourth Infantry was falling in, -helter skelter, the soldiers wrestling into their trousers and jackets -and shoes, buckling on their belts and cartridge boxes, seizing their -muskets. - -An aide spurred through the corral gate. - -“Colonel Garland! Oh, Colonel Garland! The general directs that you -take four companies of the Fourth, unite with the Second Artillery, and -commanding in person, march out upon the Puebla road until in touch -with the enemy or he has been dispersed.” - -Captain Nichols, the adjutant, rapidly called the companies: A, B, E, -I. Company B was into it! Jerry sprang to his place. Drummer and fifer -stuck to their company on detached duty like this. - -“Company B, by the right flank! Right face! Company, forward――march!” -Captain Gore bawled. - -In double file (two ranks formation) Company A marched out through the -corral gate. - -“By platoon, into line! Quick――march! Guide right.” - -The other companies were close before and behind. The Second Artillery, -serving as infantry, was double-quicking from the plaza, under Major -Galt. Two guns of Colonel Duncan’s battery issued at a gallop. In -the plaza the remaining two cannon were being hauled at top speed to -opposite corners to face the streets. - -At quick step the Colonel Garland detachment, with the guns trundling -at the rear, headed for the Puebla road. And a funny spectacle the -detachment made: loose shoes flopping, jackets askew and half buttoned, -belts dangling, caps wrong side before, muskets not all put together -yet, and many of the men only partly washed and shaved. - -The cloud of dust was plain and much nearer. The Mexicans appeared to -be swinging around, northward, as if bent upon cutting the road east of -Amozoc. They could be seen easily: a great column of lancers――looked to -be two or three thousand, all at a trot, their yellow cloaks streaming, -their red jackets glimmering, their lance points, muskatoons and -trappings flashing. - -“Form company! First platoon, right oblique!” - -Then―― - -“Company, right turn――double quick――march!” - -The detachment was marching straight for the lancers; down came the -lancers, massing for a charge. - -“Column――halt!” Adjutant Nichols shouted. - -“Form square――right and left into line――quick march――wheel!” - -With rumble and thud and cheer the two guns of Flying Battery A dashed -to the fore. They were unlimbered and turned in a jiffy. The gunners -waved their slow matches, or linstocks, to brighten the spark. The -cannon were lined and pointed――an instant more and with a gush and a -boom a solid shot had whistled toward the gay lancers. Another――and -another. Whish! That was grape, and the lancers scattered. One more -dose of the murderous grape and they had whirled, every man――they were -scouring like mad back for Puebla, a general (by his epaulets) striving -in vain to rally them. He was carried along with the rest. - -“Santa Anna! There goes Santa Anna!” - -It was only a guess, but it proved true. Later news said that General -Santa Anna himself had gathered cavalry, infantry and artillery at -Puebla, in order to stop the American advance; he had left the infantry -and artillery there, while with the lancers he rode to cut off General -Worth’s Second Brigade from the First Brigade. In El Pinal Pass, for -instance, he might have done the job nicely. But he had chosen the -wrong time. A “rascal” of a drummer boy had seen him from the church -steeple. - -After all it was not much of a brush. Colonel Garland took his column -into Amozoc again and arms were stacked; but the day was drawing to -a close and there was no more prinking. The camp had to keep on the -alert, with strong guards out, for the Mexicans might be up to more -tricks. - -In consequence of being half dirty and half clean the men really looked -worse than ever. - -General Worth waited for the Colonel Clarke brigade and the Quitman -Volunteers to join him. They arrived the next morning. General Quitman -brought only two regiments, the New Yorkers and Second Pennsylvanians. -The First Pennsylvania (Colonel Wynkoop’s “Dutch” regiment) had been -left at Perote. As for the other Mohawks―― - -“Did you know that Old Fuss and Feathers hasn’t more than six thousand -men all told?” Hannibal demanded, after first greetings. - -“No!” - -“That’s right. We’ve lost five thousand Mohawks since you left Perote. -Got only the First and Second Pennsylvania, the Palmettos and the New -Yorkers. The others were twelve-months men and their time is out soon. -The Alabamans and Georgians are still at Vera Cruz; and at Jalapa -General Scott let the Third and Fourth Illinois and the Tennesseeans -and Kentuckians go. They said they’d stay till the last day, but then -they wouldn’t re-enlist; they wanted to get home. So he thought they’d -better start right away, before the yellow fever got bad at Vera Cruz. -We’re garrisoning Jalapa and Perote, and that’s all. Have a big sick -list and a lot of desertions, too, but not as many as in Texas and -northeast Mexico. Up there the Mexicans kept tolling the men over by -promising high pay and officers’ jobs. Some of ’em are fighting under -Santa Anna now, I bet, because they’re afraid to come back. If they’re -captured they’ll be shot or hanged.” - -“Where’s General Scott?” - -“He’s coming from Jalapa with the Second Division. General Pillow’s -gone to Vera Cruz to look after reinforcements, and General Patterson -has gone home because he hasn’t men enough for a division. I suppose -Quitman or Pillow will command the Mohawks now. So you fellows didn’t -have much of brush with those lancers, you say?” - -“No. They ran off.” - -“Well, you did your best, boy. You gave the alarm. I guess those smart -officers will quit calling us ‘rascally drummer boys.’ Anyhow, hope -we beat the Second Division into Puebla. There’s no use in this whole -division sitting here, only ten miles out. We don’t need the Second.” - -The restless General Worth decided the same thing. The scouts who -reconnoitred reported that all Santa Anna’s forces in Puebla had -vanished on the road to the City of Mexico; the mayor of Puebla sent -the same word. Before noon the First Division and the Quitman two -regiments of Mohawks marched for Puebla. The day was May 15. - -A short distance out of Puebla the mayor and city council met General -Worth to escort him in. There was to be no fight. The road changed to a -magnificent paved highway leading between pillars of shining stone like -colored marble. - -“Close order――march!” - -Those were the company orders. The ranks closed up and the men took to -the cadenced step, all feet moving to the taps of the drums. - -“Column, close in mass――quick――march!” - -Each company closed in upon the company before, so that there was a -solid column of platoons, every musket at a right shoulder shift, every -foot planted in unison with the other feet. - -“Guide――right!” - -This did not prevent the men from glancing aside, as they marched -shoulder to shoulder. The tune for the fifes and drums was Yankee -Doodle but the regimental bands played Washington’s March. - -The paved road led through a broad gateway in the city wall. The top -of the wall had been crowded with Pueblans, and now the streets were -lined with more, and the balconies of the buildings were fringed with -men and women gaily dressed, peering over to see the North Americans. -The women waved their handkerchiefs and fans, the men flashed white -teeth while they puffed their cigarettes and made remarks. - -It was a pity that the toilet at Amozoc had been interrupted. Many of -the muskets were still stained from the battle of Cerro Gordo and the -rains; some of the rank and file had not had time to shave. Uniforms -were dingy, belts half whitened or whitened not at all, the buttons and -buckles and the band instruments were tarnished. Yes, and faces were -not especially clean, for the grime of the marches through dust and mud -was deep. Besides, a number of the soldiers had been ill. - -It was evident that the Pueblans were disappointed. They had expected -to see glitter and show as in their own troops, instead of this -collection of thin, long-haired, shabbily clad troops marching under -rain-stained, wind-torn flags. - -But no troops in the world could have marched with better discipline. -This was a veteran division, even the Mohawks. Those holes in the flags -were bullet holes, the stains were powder stains. Cerro Gordo was -behind, so was Perote, here was Puebla, and the next entry would be -that into the City of Mexico. - -Halt was made in the large plaza, in the very center of the city, -bordered on one side by the great palace or governor’s house, six -hundred feet long, and on another by the cathedral, covering a block. -The Pueblans surrounded the plaza in dense ranks, staring and -commenting. General Worth showed not the slightest hesitation. The -division stacked arms here, cannon were placed at the corners, guards -were posted, and the companies dismissed. It was a pleasant spot. The -men comfortably stretched out. They were only three thousand Americans -in the midst of sixty thousand Mexicans, with the whole Mexican army -somewhere about; but in a few minutes two-thirds of them were sound -asleep. - - - - -XIII - -GETTING READY AT PUEBLA - - -“The ‘old man’ ’s coming!” - -It was now May 27. The First Division and the Quitman Volunteers had -been holding Puebla for more than a week and a half. There had been -alarms. One day all the troops had stood under arms, from morning -until night, with guns loaded and with three days’ rations in their -haversacks, expecting an attack by Santa Anna; but Santa Anna had not -appeared. General Worth seemed nervous――and little wonder. - -Word had arrived at last from General Scott that he would be here -to-morrow at noon. This was his custom: to send a warning ahead -whenever he rode up the line, so that the regiments might be ready to -turn out and receive him in proper style. - -The Eighth Regiment (General Worth’s “own”) was selected to do the -honors. This peeved Hannibal, but it let Jerry and the Fourth out to -see things as they occurred. Luckily, the Fourth was quartered near -the east gateway of the National Road from Vera Cruz and Jalapa, and a -fellow could climb the wall here and look right down upon the road. - -First, about half-past eleven, General Worth and General Quitman with -their staffs, a-glitter in their full-dress uniforms of blue cloth -and gold trappings, white plumes floating from their chapeaus, went -trotting to meet the chief. - -All came back together: General Scott, tall and massive, upon his -prancing horse, in full uniform complete from his plume to his shining -boots; General Worth on his right, General Quitman on his left, the -staffs following; Captain Phil Kearny’s company of the First Dragoons -and a detachment of the Second Dragoons in column of fours as escort. -With only these two hundred and fifty dragoons General Scott had ridden -ahead of the Twiggs division, clear from La Joya, one hundred and -twenty miles. - -The soldiers upon the wall at either side of the gate gave Fuss and -Feathers a rousing cheer. That pleased him. He took off his chapeau and -bowed right and left to his “boys.” - -Commander-in-chief’s headquarters were to be at the palace on the -plaza. On the way to it there was a square of trees, the Alameda. The -Eighth Infantry had been drawn up on parade, in two ranks, in front of -the church San José, opposite the Alameda. Colonel Clarke himself, of -the Second Brigade, commanded. - -“Present――arms!” - -The drums beat a roll, every musket came to a rigid present, every -sword to a salute, the colors dipped, and General Scott, looking like -the old hero that he was, rode proudly along the line, his hand at his -hat, his eyes a little misty. The regimental band played “Hail to the -Chief.” - -The Second Division of Regulars did not get in for a couple of days. -General Childs, of the Third Artillery, had been left at Jalapa with -about one thousand men, mainly Regulars of all the arms. Colonel -Wynkoop and most of his First Pennsylvanians were still at Perote. -Having only five thousand eight hundred active troops, General Scott -was obliged to mark time at Puebla while awaiting reinforcements. - -This was hard, for it gave General Santa Anna plenty of leisure in -which to gather another army and complete his fortifications. And while -Puebla was a pleasant place, there seemed to be a discouraging amount -of sickness caused by the fruits and the water. One-fourth of the -soldiers were in the hospital and many died. - -The well were kept busy, for General Scott believed in exercise and -drill. The army had its first opportunity since leaving Vera Cruz to -drill together. Every day one or another of the brigades was manœuvred -out upon the Puebla military drill grounds near the city walls; and -three times a week there was a full division review, under the eyes of -the commander-in-chief. - -The Pueblans always crowded to witness the drills, and after watching -they were free to admit that the Americans knew how to soldier. - -It was no slouch of a job to be a drummer, as Jerry found out all over -again. He himself had a lot to learn, if he would obey the drum major’s -signals made with the tasseled staff. The drummer’s especial drill, -for instance: Put up――drumsticks! Unsling――drums! Ground――drums! Take -up――drums! Suspend――drums! Draw out――drumsticks! The marching signals: -By the right flank, by the left flank, wheel to change direction, right -oblique, left oblique, and so forth. The beats: The marching taps, -ninety steps to the minute; the flam, or double beat, in pairs, at one -hundred and ten steps to the minute, used in the evening retreat; the -rolls, eighty beats to the minute for the troop call, and one hundred -and ten to the minute for quick time and the salutes; the drag, one -hundred and forty beats to the minute, for double-quick time, and the -long roll, in sections as fast as one could work the drumsticks, for -alarms. - -Then there were the many calls: The general, for the whole camp to -prepare to break up; the assembly, for the companies to fall in; to -the color, for the companies to form regiments; the reveille, or first -call, in the early morning, to wake the camp up; the tattoo, or last -call, in the evening, to send the camp to bed; the drummers’ call, or -musicians’ call; come for orders, and the call to the sergeants or -corporals; the retreat call, for evening parade; and in the field the -halt, the recall, the march in retreat, the run or charge, and the -commence firing. - -A drummer boy had to have a good ear and lots of constant practice -to do all these things, with the drum major or some of the veteran -drummers criticizing. - -There were one drummer and one fifer in each company of infantry and -artillery, although the battery sections usually had a bugler. The -dragoons had trumpeters. Drummers and fifers of each regiment formed -the field music and marched with the band, when the regiment had a -band. The Fourth did not have a band, which was lucky. The Eighth had -theirs, and Hannibal claimed that it was a nuisance, always getting in -the way of the field music. - -The music was under the drum major. He acted as first sergeant and -received his orders from the regimental adjutant. He called the roll -at music assembly, gave the signals with his staff, and saw that the -musicians knew how to play. If there was any instrument, from the drum -even to the horn, that “Old Brown,” the drum major of the Fourth, could -not play, nobody had yet discovered it. - -In regimental camp and manœuvres all the company drummers and fifers -generally played and marched together――say ten drummers and ten -fifers. They assembled at the guard house for reveille, and beating -and tooting paraded around through the camp, paying especial attention -to the officers’ quarters! The regimental calls were preceded by the -regimental march to draw attention, in case that more than the one -regiment was present. When marching in column, the field music was -at the head of the regiment, the drummers behind the fifers. But the -drummer and fifer of each company messed and camped with the company, -and stayed with it when it was detached. - -The drummers served each in turn at being posted at the guard house -to march with the guard on tour and relief and to sound any signal -that might be required. The drummers, too, were used as markers in the -drills to indicate where the lines were to be formed and dressed; and -might be summoned for orderlies or messengers. - -In fact, a drummer was an important personage. The drummer boys got the -pay and rations of a private; wore a better uniform and a short sword. - -But not all the drummers were boys. There was a sprinkling of boys -and a sprinkling of grown men; and when the field music had formed it -made rather a funny sight with a six-foot lath like Bill Sykes in the -same short rank with a dumpy, strutty little “rascal” like young Tommy -Jones, aged only fourteen. - -The fifers were mainly men. Jerry’s partner, Fifer O’Toole, outreached -him by a foot. - -At rest intervals the troops were now given chances to see the city and -nearby country. Puebla far surpassed Vera Cruz. The saying ran: “Puebla -is the first heaven, Mexico (the City of Mexico) is the second.” The -paved streets were many and broad, flanked by splendid stone buildings -and traversed by the rattling coaches of the wealthy. There were one -hundred churches, and innumerable fine stores; the markets teemed with -fruits and vegetables. The houses were thrown open to the officers and -men; General Worth had started in by not interfering with the city -government as long as it did not interfere with him; General Scott -continued the system. He permitted the city watchmen to patrol with -their arms as before, so that at night there were two sets of guards. - -The Mexican watchmen would chant: - -“Ave Maria! Son las doce de la noche, y sereno,” which meant: “Hail, -Mary! It is eleven o’clock and quiet.” - -While the American sentries growled: - -“Post Number One (or Two, or Three). All’s well.” - -Six miles out from the city were the ruins of the ancient Aztec Indian -town of Cholula, with a pyramid of clay and stone blocks two hundred -feet high, mounted by one hundred and forty steps. When Cortez, the -conquerer, came through here in 1520 the pyramid was used for human -sacrifices, and the never-dying fire to the Aztec gods was kept alive -on top by the priests. But Cortez destroyed the city and killed six -thousand of the people. Now there was no city, and no fire, and on top -of the pyramid a church had been erected. - -This was such a historic place that the troops were marched out to it, -a brigade at a time, for an excursion. The Fourth Infantry with the -First Brigade of the First Division, under General Worth and Colonel -Garland, made the trip, one clear day, when old Popocatepetl and -Iztaccihuatl seemed to be within musket shot instead of seventy-five -miles away. Beyond those two mountains lay the City of Mexico, the goal. - -“We are the ones to get there,” thought Jerry. The Regulars themselves -were no discouraging sight――fifteen hundred well-trained soldiers -marching at ease, bearing their veteran flags; the artillery officers -brilliant in red trappings, the infantry marked by white, and the -general staff gold-braided and gold-epauletted. - -To be sure, whenever the troops started for anywhere spies in Puebla -immediately galloped into the country to carry the news to Mexican -lancers. But who feared the lancers? - -General Scott came from behind. He and his staff swept along the column -of platoons, and slackened to ride abreast half way. - -The officers there had been discussing the scenery. Some gave the -palm to glistening Popocatepetl, some to Iztaccihuatl, some to the -red-roofed city, some to the fields of green, and some to the great -pyramid surmounted by the church. But General Scott said, in his loud -voice, so that the drummers and fifers of the Fourth heard plainly: - -“Gentlemen, I differ with you all. My greatest delight is in this -fine body of troops, without whom we can never sleep in the Halls of -Montezuma, or in our own homes again.” - -The speech traveled up and down the column and everybody cheered. Old -Fuss and Feathers certainly appreciated good soldiers. - -It had been hoped that the army would “sleep in the Halls of Montezuma” -on July 4. But although plenty of provisions had been collected the -reinforcements were still slow. So the Fourth of July was passed at -Puebla, with celebrations by the rank and file, and in the evening -a grand reception by General Scott at the palace for officers and -townspeople. - -Then, on July 8, General Pillow, who had been promoted to a -major-generalcy in the Regulars, arrived from Vera Cruz with forty-five -hundred men, under Colonel McIntosh of the Fifth Infantry and General -George Cadwalader, a new brigadier, of Pennsylvania. They had started -in three detachments and had had several skirmishes with guerillas on -the way; had lost fifty men in killed and wounded, and a great deal of -baggage. - -They brought up the Palmettos, the Mounted Rifles, some of the Second -and new Third Dragoons, Company F of the Fourth Infantry, B of the -Fifth Infantry, parts of the Ninth, Eleventh and Fifteenth Infantry -(new Regular regiments), a few companies of Voltigeurs or scouting -riflemen, and a batch of recruits for all arms. - -General Franklin Pierce (another new brigadier), of New Hampshire, -arrived next, on August 6, with twenty-four hundred men out of three -thousand. He had dropped six hundred by reason of sicknesses, and had -had six fights. His troops were the famous Marine Corps of the navy, -the remainder of the new Regular regiments――Ninth, Eleventh, Twelfth, -Fourteenth and Fifteenth――and more recruits. - -The new regiments were rather raw yet; had been mustered in only a few -months, and only six out of the four hundred officers had seen service. -The others were civilian appointees――many were greener than Jerry. They -made an odd sight as they rode or walked about trying to act like old -hands, but bothered by their swords and spurs. The Marines, however, -were a snappy lot, officers and all, and took no back talk from anybody. - -General Scott had called in the garrison from Jalapa. It looked as -though he was almost ready to march on. He now commanded fourteen -thousand men in Puebla, but the sick list was tremendous. Two thousand -men were in the hospital, five hundred others were just getting well. -Nevertheless, the time had come. For several days before the arrival -of the last reinforcements under General Pierce all signs had pointed -to an early break up. A council of war had been held at headquarters, -attended by Generals Worth, Twiggs, Quitman and Pillow; aides and -orderlies had been racing through the streets, equipments had been -overhauled and wagons loaded. - -Reports said that General Santa Anna had gathered an army again of -thirty thousand and more, and had fortified all the approaches to the -capital. - -That made no difference to the army. The Regulars were eager to start. -The Volunteers――the Second Pennsylvanians, the New Yorkers and the -South Carolinans――gallantly proclaimed that they wished to “see the -elephant” beyond those next mountains. These fighting Mohawks were -bound to go through, and compared with the new Regulars, they were -veterans. - -Colonel Childs, from Jalapa, was to remain in Puebla with the sick and -a garrison of five hundred. The majority of the First Pennsylvanians -stayed at Perote to hold that. Counting out teamsters and the like -General Scott had, after all, only about ten thousand seven hundred -officers and men, with whom to advance against General Santa Anna’s -thirty thousand. - -“We might better have chased right along with what we had after the -battle of Cerro Gordo, and reached Mexico as soon as Santa Anna,” -Hannibal complained. “He’s had time to make ready for us, and we’re cut -loose from our base――haven’t men enough to garrison a single place, -except Perote, between here and Vera Cruz, and the whole road is -worried by guerillas. Old Fuss and Feathers says he’s thrown away the -scabbard and is advancing with the naked sword. It’s do or die. Well, -anyhow, the Second Division starts to-morrow. Those fellows have the -luck again. Hope we aren’t far behind.” - -This was August 6, the day of General Pierce’s arrival. The army had -been re-apportioned into four divisions instead of three. - -The First Division was about the same as before: Second Artillery, -Third Artillery, Fourth Infantry, in the First Brigade; Fifth -Infantry, Sixth Infantry, Eighth Infantry, in the Second Brigade. - -The Second Division (General Twiggs’) was about the same also: First -Artillery, Third Infantry, and the Rifles, in the First Brigade; Fourth -Artillery, Second Infantry, Seventh Infantry, with the Engineer company -and Ordnance company, in the Second Brigade. - -Major-General Pillow, who ranked next to General Scott, now, as full -major-general, commanded the Third Regular Division. This contained -the new regiments. The First Brigade, General Cadwalader, had the -Voltigeurs or light riflemen, the Eleventh Infantry, the Fourteenth -Infantry, and Captain John Magruder’s Light Battery I of the First -Artillery. The Second Brigade, under the handsome General Franklin -Pierce, had the Ninth, Twelfth and Fifteenth Infantry. - -General Quitman commanded the Fourth Division. This was the Volunteers -and the Marines. General Shields, who had recovered from his terrible -wound received at Cerro Gordo, had, of course, been given the Volunteer -brigade, composed of the Palmettos under Colonel P. M. Butler, and the -Second New Yorkers under Colonel Ward B. Burnett. Lieutenant-Colonel E. -S. Watson, of the Marines, had the Second Brigade――the Marines under -Major Levi Twiggs and the Second Pennsylvania (a fine regiment equal to -the Regulars) under Colonel W. B. Roberts, with Light Battery H of the -Third Artillery under Lieutenant E. J. Steptoe, and Company C, Third -Dragoons. - -Then there was the cavalry brigade, commanded by the fire-eater, -Colonel Harney, and containing Company F of the First Dragoons, under -Captain Phil Kearny, nephew of General Stephen W. Kearny who had -marched the First to California; six companies of the Second Dragoons, -under Major E. V. Sumner, who also had recovered from his Cerro -Gordo wound; and three companies of the new Third Dragoons, under -Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas P. Moore. - -The Twiggs Second Division was to lead the way, with Harney’s dragoons -clearing the advance. - -Everybody turned out early the next morning, Tuesday, August 7, to see -the Second start for the Halls of Montezuma. The dragoons were already -a short distance upon the road. A great throng of soldiers, sick and -well, and of the townspeople, pressed around the plaza where General -Twiggs drew up his regiments on parade before the government palace to -be inspected by General Scott. - -Inspection over with, he faced the long lines and raised his hat――and -what a burly fighter he looked to be, with his short neck and his -sunburned red face and his mane of white hair. - -“Now, my lads, give them a Cerro Gordo shout!” he bellowed. “One, two, -three――huzzah!” - -“Huzzah! Huzzah! Huzzah!” The twenty-five hundred cheered with one -voice in a deafening burst. Jerry, Hannibal, and every comrade in the -crowd joined wildly. The bands blared, the drums rolled, the fifes -squeaked. - -“By company, right wheel! Quick――march!” - -The division broke into column of companies. - -“Columns, forward――march! Guide――right!” - -“Break into platoons――march!” - -Away tramped the Second Division, bands playing, drums beating, cannon -rumbling, flags flying. - -“Hi!” Pompey chuckled, having squirmed up beside Jerry and Hannibal. -“Santy Annie, he done heah dat shout, an’ he’s a-sayin’: ‘Dem Yankees -is comin’! Now where I gwine?’” - - - - -XIV - -A SIGHT OF THE GOAL AT LAST - - -The next morning the General Quitman Mohawks and Marines marched -jauntily out, headed by Captain Gaither’s company of the Third -Dragoons. The Worth division was to leave on the morning following; the -Pillow Third Regular Division would be the last. - -All Puebla gathered to see the First go. Not a few of the Mexican women -were crying. The First Division was the favorite. The townspeople had -named it the “Pueblan Division.” They admired the way the men had -stacked arms and coolly lain down to sleep in the plaza as if fearing -nothing. - -General Worth, dark and flashing-eyed, sitting his horse like a field -marshal, called for three cheers. - -“Huzzah! Huzzah! Huzzah!” - -In column of sections five men wide the First passed through the gate, -and upon the National Road to the City of Mexico. - -“Form platoons――march!” - -“Route step――march!” - -From close order of thirteen inches distance the ranks fell back to -twenty-eight inches, or one pace, apart. The men might carry their guns -at will, always with the muzzles up; they need not keep step and might -talk. - -An aide from the general staff galloped in from behind and said -something to General Worth. The order rang imperative: - -“Column, close order――march!” - -So everybody came to a shoulder arms, the ranks closed, the drums again -tapped the cadence of ninety steps to the minute. - -General Scott hastened by with his staff and escort, and continued on -to join the Twiggs advance, it was said. - -“Route step――march!” - -The day, August 9, was sunny and warm. The City of Mexico lay about -ninety miles west, beyond the next range of mountains. From the pass -over the range the Valley of Mexico and the city would be seen. - -At the end of the third day’s march camp was pitched amidst an icy -drizzle, in a high valley named the Rio Frio or Cold Water Valley. -There had been a stiff climb through pine forests but the pass was near -before. General Worth, riding his horse among the regiments, directed -that timber be cut by the messes and fires built. Soon the dark rainy -valley was aglow with the log blazes of the First Division bivouac, -here ten thousand feet up, in the Anahuac Mountains. - -Jerry was warm and comfortable, rolled in his blanket beside the fire, -his drum stowed in its oilcloth housing. - -“Ah, weel, I’ve seen worse in Scotland,” Private “Scotty” MacPheel -remarked. - -“Sure, we’ll niver mind whin we’re all a-livin’ cosy-loike in the Halls -o’ Montezumy,” said Corporal Finerty. “Faith, an’ they’re not fur now. -Jist over the top o’ the hill, an’ down.” - -The fires gradually died under the pelting rain. When to the touch -of a sergeant, Jerry awoke, shivering, for reveille, his blanket was -sheeted with ice, and icicles hung from his drum cover. - -But this day they all were to cross the range and would see the City of -Mexico below, where General Santa Anna waited with his thirty thousand -men, his artillery and his forts. - -To drum beat and fife note, playing the regimental marches, the First -Division stepped out briskly in the crisp air. The way was up, and -up, and up. At every half mile the column had to stop and rest. The -men sweat under their muskets, knapsacks, haversacks, cartridge boxes -and blanket rolls. When they reached the top they were almost eleven -thousand feet aloft. - -The pass formed a plateau about a mile long but not wide. At noon the -column halted at the western edge for dinner. - -Nothing below could be seen except a heavy fog extending like billows -of cloud, while up here the sun was shining. Nevertheless the Valley of -Mexico was underneath the fog bank. - -“Companies, fall in!” - -“By platoons, forward――route step――march!” - -Down they went upon a pretty fair road. The fog was breaking, as they -twisted and turned amidst the pines. Now the sun commenced to shine -into the valley itself. Lakes glistened, green fields unfolded, more -mountains appeared. - -With rumble of wheels, tramp of feet and clatter of hoofs the First -Division descended. Nobody could deny that the long column of cavalry, -artillery, infantry and wagons made a handsome sight. General Worth -and staff, in their great-coats, upon their horses, had paused. The -general was eagerly surveying the line. Then he exclaimed: - -“Gentlemen! Look at that! Just look at that column! Isn’t it enough to -cheer the heart of any man?” - -By mid-afternoon the whole valley was in view. There were numerous -towns; several large lakes; the City of Mexico was disclosed as a patch -of sparkling towers and turrets, thirty miles distant. And after a -time the ranks began to pick out the camps of the Second and Fourth -Divisions, blue with soldiers and slightly marked by the few tents of -officers. - -“That first is Twiggs.” - -“No, it’s Quitman. I can see the Mohawks ’atin’!” - -“B’gorry, ’tis Twiggs; for there’s Ould Fuss an’ Feathers, big as anny -thray men!” - -“Column, close up――march!” - -The ranks closed, the men fell into the cadenced step. Drum Major Brown -ordered “Coming Through the Rye”; and with the fifes and drums of the -Fourth Regiment playing “If a body meet a body,” and the other music -and the bands playing what they chose, they all marched past the first -camp (that of the Quitman Volunteers and Marines); before reaching -the camp of the Second they turned into a road branching off to the -southwest, as if for a round shining lake; and at sunset, while the -clouds promised rain, they made camp at a village named Chalco, near -the eastern border of the lake. - -The evening was rainy. Under orders from the officers the company -sergeants soon billeted the men in the village houses and shacks. -Jerry’s mess――First Sergeant Mulligan, Corporal Finerty, Fifer O’Toole, -Privates “Scotty” MacPheel, John Doane (who had served in the British -army) and Henry Brewer from New Jersey――got quarters equal to the -best: the same being a room with stout clay walls and mud roof, and a -fireplace, and sheep pelts on the dirt floor for softness. To be sure, -the pelts smelled rather strong when warmed up, but what difference? - -Sergeant Mulligan sent out Scotty and Henry to forage, with Jerry as -interpreter. They three came back bringing a shoulder of mutton, two -chickens and an armful of corn. Under orders from the sergeant, in a -gruff voice, but delivered by Jerry, the Mexican who owned the hut -supplied firewood. Speedily the mess was cooking and eating. - -“The only thing that bothers me now is, jest how are we goin’ to call -on Santy Annie?” said Fifer O’Toole, munching; “for, as I understand, -all the roads leadin’ in to him are dikes, like, through the bogs, wid -wather on both hands an’ cannon overhead.” - -“Why can’t you l’ave that to Gin’ral Scott?” Corporal Finerty reproved. -“Faith, he’ll find the way in an’ we’ll take it. Meself, I ain’t paid -to do a gin’ral’s work; I’ve my own business, an’ that’s fightin’ whin -the officers give the word. They’re the lads who know.” - -“By the way the folks in this town are acting, keeping so aloof and -not over friendly, they consider us as good as licked already,” put -in Henry Brewer. “‘You are all dead men’――wasn’t that the comforting -word from the black-faced villain who handed us over the mutton?” he -appealed to Jerry. - -Jerry nodded. - -“But they said the same about you in Vera Cruz,” he added. - -“Yis, an’ they thought the same at Cerry Gordo,” Sergeant Mulligan -asserted. “An’ the same they thought in Pueblo, whin the purty gurls -cried to see us set out. But for all that we’re still terrible able to -punish flesh-an’-blood victuals. Wid full stomicks an’ Scott to lade us -on we go.” - - - - -XV - -OUTGUESSING GENERAL SANTA ANNA - - -In the morning the clouds had vanished. The day was as warm as -midsummer; in the east and southeast the great peaks of Iztaccihuatl -and Popocatepetl stood out white and sharp and clear; large Lake Chalco -shimmered in lanes of water through reeds and floating meadows; across -it, and farther in the northwest, the City of Mexico appeared plainly, -its towers and high roofs glistening in the sun. - -Everything looked peaceful. After the camp had performed its fatigue -duties, the men were set at work cleaning their equipment. Jerry -finished early and was free to wander. - -By all talk throughout the regiment the situation was serious. The City -of Mexico was in sight, but it was surrounded by lakes and bogs, and -batteries of heavy guns, and fortifications manned by thirty thousand -or more Mexican soldiers. - -After a while he espied an officer seated by himself, apart, upon a -pile of old clay bricks and studying a map. It was Lieutenant Grant, -busy figuring the problem. Jerry went to him and saluted. - -“Well, my lad?” the lieutenant invited. - -“Beg your pardon, sir, but I was wondering what we’re going to do,” -Jerry ventured. - -Lieutenant Grant smiled. - -“So are the rest of us. It’s a very pretty puzzle. But General Scott -will solve it, for here we are.” - -“Oh, we’ll take the city, of course, sir,” Jerry agreed. “I don’t know -how, though.” - -“N-no,” the lieutenant mused, eying his map. Then he eyed Jerry. He was -worn and thin, like the soldiers generally. “You’re a bright boy. Maybe -if you look at this map you will understand things better. But this is -all confidential, you must remember. The man in the ranks is supposed -to wait and obey orders; the field officers say what they are. And as -I’m only a second lieutenant I have little to do with the planning of -operations.” - -“I’ll remember, sir,” Jerry promised. - -“All right. Sit down. Here’s a sketch map that I’ve borrowed from the -engineers. It covers this section. There’s the road from Puebla, over -which we advanced. There’s the Fourth Division camp, at Buena Vista, -which we passed before turning off; and there’s the Second Division -camp at Ayotla, three miles along toward the city. Here we are at -Chalco, a short distance south of the Puebla road and the two other -camps, and there in the northwest is the City of Mexico. You’ll see how -we are blocked off from going over the Puebla or National road, by the -fortress of El Peñon. There’s El Peñon, thirteen miles west of General -Twiggs’ camp, on the main highway.” - -[Illustration: _The Campaign in the Valley of Mexico_] - -“Yes, sir. I see it. Can’t we take it like we took Cerro Gordo?” - -“General Scott, I have been informed, would rather not try. El Peñon is -stronger than Cerro Gordo was. You can see it from here. It consists of -one steep hill; mounts fifty-one guns by batteries placed in terraces, -and is surrounded by a ditch of water twenty-four feet wide and ten -feet deep. The guns enfilade, or rake the length of the road for a long -distance, and we cannot avoid them by leaving the road on account of -marshes on either hand. To force El Peñon would cost three thousand -men, and we would still be upon a narrow road, seven miles from the -city, and unable to manœuvre. But southwest of El Peñon, and nearer the -city, on a branch road or cut-off from the main road, you see another -fortress called Mexicalcingo.” - -“Yes, sir.” - -“Mexicalcingo is a fortified town, commanding the passage of a bridge -through the marsh at the head of Lake Xochimilco, which is the lake -extending into the northwest from Lake Chalco. Mexicalcingo is scarcely -five miles from the City of Mexico, but otherwise it gives much the -same problem as El Peñon. We might carry the batteries and the bridge, -and then we’d still be on a narrow road, flanked by marshes for four -miles, before we struck another main road to the city. General Scott is -having both fortifications reconnoitred, I believe, but his spies have -already posted him.” - -“Then what can we do, sir?” Jerry asked. - -“I’m not saying, although I am at liberty to have my own ideas. Anybody -is permitted to think, but it’s against regulations to think aloud -sometimes. I’m telling you these things as man to man. When you grow up -you may be an officer yourself, with maps at your disposal. Well, if we -can’t get at the capital from the east, there ought to be other ways. -Napoleon laid down as a maxim of war: ‘Never do what the enemy expects -you to do.’ Santa Anna expects General Scott to advance upon the city -by the eastern approaches, and I understand that he has concentrated -his batteries and men so as to defend these approaches. Now you’ll see -by the map that beyond Mexicalcingo the cut-off road joins a main road -from the south, named the Acapulco road. And that farther west there is -still another main road from the south.” - -“Yes, sir,” mused Jerry, pouring over the map and following the -lieutenant’s finger. - -“There is a way to strike the Acapulco road, or the other road, without -reducing Mexicalcingo. An army might――I do not say it could――but an -army of brave men might march around south of Lake Chalco, here, and -away south of Mexicalcingo, over a very rough country, and reach the -Acapulco road at the town of San Augustine, about thirty miles from -where we now are. Thus we should avoid El Peñon and Mexicalcingo, and -approach the city from an unexpected quarter, either the south or the -west.” - -“Maybe General Scott has thought of that, sir.” - -Lieutenant Grant smiled again. - -“No doubt he has. I rather surmise that he thought of it at Puebla. I -know he was busy gathering information. But by all reports from our -spies and from the natives the route around south of Lake Chalco is -very bad, with lava rocks and sharp ridges and bogs. It is so bad that -the Mexicans themselves rarely use it, and General Santa Anna has paid -little attention to it.” - -“The same way he didn’t pay much attention to that first hill at Cerro -Gordo,” said Jerry. - -“Cerro Gordo ought to have taught him, but apparently it didn’t. He’s -fairly good at tactics and poor at strategy. General Scott shines in -both. I have an idea,” continued the lieutenant; and he suddenly asked: -“Can you keep a secret, boy?” - -“Yes, sir.” - -“Very well. Do so. I am telling you a secret――or what may be a secret. -It is quite likely that the march upon the City of Mexico will be made -by the south. Captain Lee, of the engineers, has reconnoitred the trail -around the lake to San Augustine and thinks it passable.” - -“And we won’t have to fight, sir?” - -“Oh, we’ll have fighting enough and to spare. There are defenses over -on the Acapulco road, and Santa Anna will find out what we’re up to. -It’s simply a question whether he’ll dare move his forces in time -and leave the eastern approaches weakened. You see Tlalpam, or San -Augustine? North on the road to the city there is the town of San -Antonio, which probably has strong batteries; and then Churubusco, four -miles from the city. After these are taken, we should have to fight -a way through the interior line of defenses connected with the city -walls. But at San Augustine we shall be within nine miles of the city -and have the choice of several roads. Yes,” smiled the lieutenant, -folding the map, “we shall be kept busy, officers, men and boys.” - -The Third Division, under General Pillow, bringing the new infantry -regiments and the Voltigeurs, arrived this afternoon. They all passed -on through Chalco and encamped two miles south at Chimalpa. Now if the -attacks were to be made from the east, then the Second Division and -the Quitman Volunteers and Marines would get in first, because they -already were on the main road. This put the First and Third Divisions -in the rear again, which was not pleasing to them. But Jerry, hearing -the talk, smiled to himself, for he thought that he and Lieutenant -Grant knew different. - -And thus it came about; for―― - -“Hooray, boys! The march is reversed. The old First is to lead the way -wance more.” - -That was the word from Corporal Finerty, at noon mess the next day in -the village of Chalco, on the eastern shore of Lake Chalco. - -“An’ where do we go?” - -“Sure, I ain’t been told yet, but you can figger for yourselves. It -won’t be by the main road, that’s certain, where the Twiggs lads are -ahead of us.” - -The news set everybody on edge. The men only waited for orders. In -about two hours they came from Brigade Adjutant Nichols, speaking for -Colonel Garland. - -“Beat the assembly, drum major.” - -At the initial taps the Fourth Regiment slung haversacks and knapsacks -and grasped muskets. The other regiments were as alert. Drum Major -Brown signaled, and his drummers sounded To the Color. - -There was brief inspection. Ranks were closed, platoons formed, the -First Division moved out into the south instead of into the north. That -was just as Lieutenant Grant had predicted. - -The Pillow division was under arms, two miles on, but had not yet -formed for a march. The First trudged blithely by with good-natured -jokes, and left it. - -When bivouac was made this evening in a cornfield eight miles from -Chalco the division was in fine spirits. Old Fuss and Feathers and -General Worth were up to something, nobody knew exactly what; but all, -including Santa Anna, would soon find out. - -The next day’s march rounded the lake and turned into the west among -olive groves. Emerging from these the leading ranks broke into a cheer. -In the north, far beyond the lake, there might be seen El Peñon hill, a -dark, bulky mass, with the Mexican flag still flying defiantly from its -top. Across the head of another lake, in the northwest, Mexicalcingo -village was just visible with the Mexican flags marking its batteries -also. The division was side-stepping these forts out of range. - -“Faith, they don’t see us at all, at all. They’re settin’ over their -traps, an’ prisently we’ll be lookin’ at their backs!” - -The road was getting bad. It wound along the base of a bare mountain -range that extended ridges right into the new lake, Xochimilco. The -horses of Duncan’s battery had to be helped by hand; the baggage train -in the rear struggled with the steep ravines cut into the sharp rock -between ridges. - -At ten o’clock in the morning another village, San Gregorio, was -reached. Here an aide came up with dispatches for General Worth; the -word spread that an attack had been made upon one of the columns -behind. The division was to wait for instructions. - -Then, at evening, all Colonel Harney’s cavalry brigade, eight hundred -dragoons, trotted in. They said that a force of Mexican infantry and -lancers had tried to cut off the Second Division, back at Buena Vista -on the way from Ayotla to march around the lakes; but that Taylor’s -battery of the First Artillery had sent the red caps flying. - -The Second Division and the Fourth Division were following the Third -and the First. The whole army was on the move, flanking El Peñon and -Mexicalcingo, aiming to strike the Acapulco road into Mexico City from -the south. - -The road to San Augustine grew worse. In places there was scarcely -space for the column to pass between Lake Xochimilco and the mountain -slopes. The pioneers toiled. The Mexicans had hastened to cut ditches -and roll down logs; but the artillery and the wagons were hauled -through and over. - -Captain Mason of the engineers rode ahead, out of sight, to reconnoitre. -When he returned it was reported that he had entered San Augustine -itself, and had found no soldiers. - -“Column, attention! Close order――forward――march!” - -With cavalry, infantry, four pieces of artillery and seventy-five -wagons the First Division marched into San Antonio on the afternoon of -August 17. - -In camp this night many of the men thought that now the way was open to -the city. Remembering the map and his talk with Lieutenant Grant, Jerry -feared different. So did others. - -“Not yet, not yet, my lads,” said Sergeant Mulligan. “We’ll have our -fights. You can rist sure that Santy Annie knows afore this what we’re -about. Ain’t the country full o’ spies for him? ’Tis a long nine miles -to thim Halls o’ Montezumy, an’ plenty o’ room for batteries acrost the -way. If I don’t miss my guiss there’ll be troops an’ guns a-hurryin’ -already, ’round by the city an’ down to head us off. I hear tell that -not two mile north is the first o’ the trouble――a place called San -Antonio, bristlin’ wid guns; an’ Cherrybusco beyant, lookin’ the same. -An’ bogs, an’ outworks, an’ the city walls beyant that.” - -“Weel,” quoth Private MacPheel, “may the bullets be distributed same as -the pay, an’ mony a braw fallow win through.” - - - - -XVI - -FACING THE MEXICAN HOST - - -At eight in the morning assembly was ordered. The division formed -column. This looked like business. General Scott had arrived; the -Second, Third and Fourth Divisions were coming rapidly. When the First -headed out of San Augustine, upon a broad road leading to the north, -Jerry himself felt a queer little thrill. In that direction lay San -Antonio, only two miles and a half; beyond San Antonio was Churubusco; -and beyond Churubusco, Mexico City. - -From San Augustine nothing could be seen of the country north. The view -was interrupted by a great mass of blackish volcanic rock, thrown up -like lava, and cooled into all kinds of ugly shapes. It was named El -Pedrigal; was two miles north and south, and three miles east and west. - -The road turned northward around the east end of the lava bed. In -another mile the west end of Lake Xochimilco opened, opposite on the -right――and the column suddenly halted. The road continued, but half -a mile before there stretched across it the Mexican batteries of San -Antonio. - -Now the general officers consulted. In the column heads wagged. -With the marshes of the lake upon the one hand and the jagged lava -ridges upon the other, and the road running between straight into the -breastworks, it did not look like a very happy prospect. - -“Order――arms! Battalion――rest!” barked Major Francis Lee to the Fourth -Infantry. - -The whole column might stand at ease while General Worth and his staff, -riding to a better position, examined the ground through their glasses. -An aide came with orders for the brigade. - -“The general’s compliments, colonel, and you will please encamp your -brigade on the right of the road,” he shouted, to Colonel Garland. - -The regiments were moved over. The Second Brigade also went into camp -behind. The companies were cautioned to stay near their stacked arms in -readiness for action. The flags of the Mexican batteries could be seen -plainly; the notes of their bugles could be heard. A cannon boomed, and -a round-shot whined down the road. - -“B’gorry, this day we make a horn or spoil a spoon,” Corporal Finerty -declared. “Who’s for climbin’ over thim breastworks?” - -“I!” and “I!” and “Here’s your man!” were the replies. - -“Less noise there, sergeant,” called Captain Gore. - -“You hear? Hould your breaths, for you’ll nade ’em,” Sergeant Mulligan -rebuked. - -“Sure, sergeant, wan Cerry Gordo shout an’ thim beggars’d be showin’ us -their heels,” Corporal Finerty grinned. - -“Here he comes! Old Fuss and Feathers himself! ’Tis like a smell o’ -powder――the sight of him. Are ye all primed, boys? We’re in for a -fight.” - -General Scott and staff galloped up. General Worth received him -at division headquarters in a ranch house near the rear; they all -proceeded to examine the country again from the roof of the house. -Pretty soon the engineers under Major J. L. Smith and Captain James -Mason (said to be almost the equal of Captain Lee in cleverness) set -out to reconnoitre over the lava bed on the left; Captain Seth B. -Thornton’s company of the Second Dragoons detachment filed along the -edge of the lava to support them. - -Both parties disappeared. The camp waited; had dinner beside their -stacked arms, the remaining detachment of dragoons loafing likewise. -Some of the men slept in the warm sun. Jerry was dozing off like an old -campaigner, his shoulders bolstered against his drum, when a “Boom! -Boom” awakened him with a start. The men around him were listening and -gazing, their faces a little paled. The officers had stiffened, alert. - -A cavalry horse galloped down the road, its saddle empty, its stirrups -flapping. - -“Cap’n Thornton’s horse! It’s Cap’n Thornton’s horse!” - -As the horse swerved for the dragoons, all might see that the saddle -was bloody. When the Thornton troopers rode in, they brought Captain -Thornton’s body, cut almost in two by a cannon ball. They had -reconnoitred too close to a masked battery. - -The Mexican batteries were sending an occasional shot in the direction -of the division, bidding “Stand off!” The engineers toiled back. They -evidently had found no route either by the left or the right of the -road, for toward evening the First Brigade was moved a short distance -aside and everybody knew that the attack had been postponed. The -Fourth Regiment secured quarters in a large stone barn――and just in -time. A cold rain began to fall. - -The Mexican batteries kept firing at the barn with a twenty-four-pounder; -once in a while a round shot landed upon the mud roof or shook the solid -walls, but the rain and the gathering dusk made poor practice for them, -and after a time the men grew used to the bombardment. - -Finally the shots ceased. Up the road the San Antonio soldiers were -having a celebration. There was much singing and howling and squawking -of bands, together with the firing of muskets. - -“Now I wonder what’s the reason of all that?” Henry Brewer of Jerry’s -mess remarked. “Is it because they killed one man, or do they think -they’ve beaten us off? Seems to me it takes mighty little to make those -fellows happy.” - -“Aye; and to-morrow they’ll be singing a different tune,” said John -Doane. - -“Did soombody obsarve this marn that we’d be makin’ a spoon or spoilin’ -a horn?” asked Scotty MacPheel. “Faith, whin we carry yon batteries I -doot soom of us’ll no hae muckle mair use for a spoon or any ither tool -except a spade.” - -“Right-o, Scotty,” Corporal Finerty agreed. “For me military eye tells -me there’s a job ahead of us, though I’m not sayin’ the First Division -can’t handle it. Sure it’s no secret what the ingineers reported; all -the officers know it, an’ I’ve an ear on either side o’ my topknot. -The Mexicans ferninst us are snug an’ tight, wid a reinforcement -o’ two regiments from the north, an’ thray thousand men all tould, -an’ batteries fetched clear from El Peñon an’ that other place, -Mexicalcingo. Their right rists on the lavy that only infantry can -travel; their lift ixtends clean into the bogs, where no man nor horse -can make way around. An’ in front we got to charge in along this same -open road, an’ belike have to put up scalin’ ladders to get in wid for -use o’ the bayonet.” - -“You talk like an officer, Finerty.” - -“Yis, an’ I’m givin’ yez officers’ talk. If I had me desarts a gin’ral -I’d ha’ been before this. An’ somethin’ else I’ll tell you. Yonder at -the other side those lavy ridges, an’ only thray miles, is another -set o’ batteries, an’ we can’t pass betwixt. There’s another road, -too, west’ard, an’ a cross road connectin’ this and that, by way o’ -Cherrybusco beyant San Antonio. So if we do take San Antonio, an’ -Cherrybusco, won’t we have thim fellows on our backs? Now I’m figgerin’ -that the gin’ral staff is thinkin’ a bit on how to carry the batteries -yonder, first.” - -The night passed peacefully. Duncan’s battery had been posted to -command the road, the sentinels regularly sang: “All’s well,” and -the camp slept. In the huge stone barn the Fourth Regiment was as -comfortable as could be. - -August 19, the next day, dawned bright and warm. Word came that all -the divisions were now up as far as San Augustine. By the number of -aides and orderlies dashing back and forth between the First Division -headquarters and San Augustine, something was due to happen. - -The orders of the day kept everybody close. Jerry had no opportunity -to look up Hannibal, and Hannibal was unable to look him up, either. -The air seemed filled with suspense. The Mexican batteries up the -road stayed very alert, expecting an attack. But the brigade officers, -within sight of Jerry, constantly trained their glasses upon the lava -field to the west――really paying more attention to that than to San -Antonio. - -Then about the middle of the afternoon the dull booming of artillery -and the crash of musketry came rolling across the bristling lava. -Speedily two clouds of smoke rose toward the sun; both were three or -four miles away. The larger one veiled a hill that just showed itself -above the lava field. - -It was a battle at last. The large cloud was from the Mexican -batteries, the smaller cloud from the American guns. - -General Worth and a group of officers had issued upon the flat roof of -the ranch house headquarters to gaze at the smoke. Division Adjutant -Captain William Mackall galloped in from the headquarters to Colonel -Garland; Brigade Adjutant Nichols bore the orders to Major Lee of the -Fourth Regiment. - -“The battalions are to stand in line, at rest, major, prepared to move.” - -“Battalion, attention!” - -Officers ran to their places; the men, who had been sitting down, -sprang up. - -“Right――dress! Front! Order――arms! Battalion――rest!” - -So the regiments waited for the command to march. - -“We’ll be going yonder and lend a hand.” This was the hope. But -although the firing grew heavier and the smoke clouds denser, no -further orders arrived from headquarters. - -Nevertheless it was plain to be seen that things were not altogether -right in the west. General Worth and staff still stood outlined upon -the flat roof of the ranch house, peering steadily through their -glasses; the brigade and regimental officers were anxiously gazing, -too; and presently the company officers drifted into little knots and -gazed and murmured. - -The smaller black cloud was stationary; it had not advanced, the Mexican -cloud had lessened not at all. By the sounds the American batteries were -lighter in metal. The smoke clouds remained separate――the American -forces seemed to be getting nowhere. - -The faces of the officers lengthened; the men in the ranks began to -mutter restlessly. - -“Send in the First. Sure, we’re the boys. Leave those fellows in front -of us, and we’ll tend to ’em later.” - -The First Division stood ready until sunset. When the firing died away, -the positions of the two smoke clouds had little changed. The Mexicans -upon the hill certainly had held out. - -“You may break ranks, major,” the adjutant called to Major Lee. “The -men are to be dismissed for supper.” - -This left matters very unsatisfactory. Before supper Jerry sallied -out from the barn. The officers still were in little groups, talking -earnestly. Whenever any of the enlisted men came near to them, they -immediately quit talking, as if they had been discussing bad news. -Jerry waited until he had a chance to catch Lieutenant Grant alone. -Then he went up to him. - -“Excuse me, lieutenant, but could you tell me anything about the -battle? The men are afraid it hadn’t gone right.” - -“We don’t know much more than the rest of you,” the lieutenant -answered. “General Worth probably is expecting news. But if you’ll -promise not to spread discouraging word among the men, I’ll explain the -best I can.” - -“Yes, sir.” - -“Very well. As far as I understand, General Scott is operating on a -triangle. The base of the triangle is formed by this road, from San -Augustine to Churubusco, with San Antonio at about the middle of it. -The lava field occupies the inside of the triangle. The point of the -triangle, west across the lava, is a hill called Contreras, which the -Mexicans have fortified strongly. We cannot pass San Antonio by the -road, without much difficulty, in order to get at Churubusco beyond and -open the way to the capital. But while we mask San Antonio and keep -it on the alert, General Scott purposes to throw the other divisions -from San Augustine out along the south side of the triangle, carry the -Mexican fortifications at the point, and then by marching eastward -again along the north side of the triangle strike Churubusco and San -Antonio at their rear, or in reverse. We, of course, will be called -upon for a frontal attack at the same time. Now by the appearance of -things I fear, myself, that the general has run against a stronger -position than he anticipated, and that matters have not gone according -to plan. He had the engineers under Captain Lee reconnoitring the -enemy yesterday. They found a mule trail leading from San Augustine -through the lava to the batteries at Contreras. Evidently the ground -has proved difficult for artillery, as I noted the reports of only -three light guns on our side.” - -“Do you think we’ve been whipped, lieutenant?” Jerry asked, his heart -sinking. - -“N-no, not exactly whipped, in the true sense of the word,” Lieutenant -Grant soberly said. “There’s been no call upon us for reinforcements, -and it did not sound like a very heavy battle. But the way this army is -fixed, cut loose from communications and over two hundred miles in the -enemy’s country, if we don’t take a place when we really attack it we -might as well be whipped. We can’t afford to lose men for nothing.” - -“We’ll win yet, then; won’t we, sir?” - -“General Scott is there. You may be sure that he’ll find a way. A small -force can hold San Antonio in check. It is acting strictly on the -defensive.” - -“If troops are sent for, I hope they’ll be the First Brigade,” Jerry -blurted. - -“Yes,” smiled Lieutenant Grant; “so do I.” - -The regulation night’s rain was commencing to fall. Jerry hastened back -for the stone barn and supper. That was rather a gloomy mess. They all -somehow knew that the attack over at Contreras had failed; all wondered -what Old Fuss and Feathers would do next; what regiments had been cut -up, why the First Division had not been given a chance, and so forth, -and so forth. - -“Ah, weel, to-morrow’ll be a bludy day, I’m thinkin’, lads,” spoke -Scotty. “The gen’ral’s no mon to gie oop. I vote for a gude sleep, -mysel’, an’ I sartainly peety them who hae their bivouac in the starm. -Gude sakes, leesten to the pour doon!” - -The rain had merged into a terrific storm of thunder and lightning and -gusty wind that lashed the barn with giants’ flails. Luckily the Fourth -Regiment was snug within the dripping eaves; but what of the troops -camped in the open, covered by only their blankets? They would be -drenched! And what of the men on the battlefield? The wounded, and the -weary! - -While thinking and listening to the rain, and drowsily watching the -smouldering campfires in the great barn, Jerry dozed off. He awakened -to the sound of low voices. A group of non-commissioned officers -was squatting near him, beside a fire, and talking guardedly among -themselves――or seemed to be interested in a story. All through the barn -the ranks were stretched under blankets upon the floor, snoring and -gurgling. Jerry promptly rolled out and crept to the group. Sergeant -Mulligan and Corporal Finerty were there from his company. - -They stopped murmuring. - -“Who’s that?” - -“Jerry Cameron, is all.” - -“Get back to bed. We want no young rascal of a drummer sittin’ in with -us.” - -“’Asy, now. He’s not as bad as the rist of ’em,” Sergeant Mulligan -said. “He’s all right; knows how to kape a still tongue in his head. -Sure, I see him talkin’ wid Left’nant Grant, betimes, an’ niver a word -did I get out of him. Let him stay.” - -“Mind you, then, nothin’ of this to the men,” Corporal Finerty warned. -“Go on, Murray.” - -The center of the group was Corporal Murray, of Company A, who had been -orderly at headquarters. - -“Well, as I was saying,” proceeded Corporal Murray, “the story of -the battle is like this――just as I got it with my two ears when the -orderly from Old Fuss and Feathers rode in with dispatches to division -headquarters and I listened through the door. General Valencia, who -ranks next to Santy Annie himself, is over on Contreras hill, with -twenty-two pieces of artillery, mainly heavy guns, and with six -thousand infantry and lancers, blocking the way around by the west the -same as those fellows at San Antonio are blocking our way north’ard. -So this morning the general-in-chief sent Pillow’s division of new -regulars, with Cap’n Magruder’s light battery of the First Artillery -from the Second Division and Left’nant Callender’s howitzers, to open -the trail discovered by the engineers; and the Second Division under -Twiggs was ordered to support. - -“Well, and a time they all had, sure enough. The engineers hadn’t been -able by reason of the nature of the ground to get clost enough to -count the batteries, or quite figger their positions, but they’d took -a scattering of prisoners before being driven back, and Old Fuss and -Feathers examined these. Now the trail was fierce, in the open, like, -all heaved up into sharp rocks and broken by holes, and never a bit -of shelter once our men had climbed atop the lava field. And at two -thousand yards the Mexican eighteens had a fair sweep, whilst Magruder -and Callender couldn’t reply at all. - -“But the men and horses dragged at the guns and took their medicine. -The Mounted Rifles afoot were sent forward to clean out the Mexican -skirmishers, and that they did. ’Twas not the sharp rocks and the holes -alone, but the cactus was something scandalous, and down in front -of the hill there were ditches and corn patches, fine for skirmish -work. Never mind, the Rifles kept at it. Sure, boys, if Magruder and -Callender didn’t get their guns to within nine hundred yards, and there -they planted ’em, and opened up. - -“Persifor Smith’s First Brigade of the Second Division formed our left -o’ line; that new general, Pierce, marched into right of line with his -Second Brigade of Pillow’s Third Division, being the Ninth, Twelfth -and Fifteenth Infantry; the other new general, Cadwalader, moved in to -support with his First Brigade, the Voltigeurs and the ’Leventh and -Fourteenth regiments; old Bennet Riley with the Second and Seventh -Regulars and the Fourth Artillery of the Twiggs’ Second Brigade was -sent around by our right flank to take the Mexicans in reverse and -occupy a village north’ard on their left rear. - -“There was a ravine in front of the line, and all cleared of brush, -with the Mexicans up the opposite slope entrenched, their lancers and -infantry covering their flanks and a road leading north for the City of -Mexico. ’Tis the road which connects by a crossroad with this road of -ourn, at Cherrybusco. Our infantry stood no show of storming the hill -from in front――not across that ravine; and for two hours the batteries -had a fearful time with twenty guns pounding ’em. Left’nant Callender, -of the howitzers, was bad wounded, Lef’nant J. P. Johnston, of -Magruder’s, got his death, and we could work only three guns together, -owing to the nature of the ground. The Rifles lay flat, supporting -the batteries; and so did the gunners, and jumped up when they served -the pieces. ’Twasn’t long before the whole two batteries were put out -of action; hadn’t made any impression upon the breastworks with their -twelve-pounders, and had to be withdrawn.” - -“Where was Scott all that time?” - -“Right there, up toward the front. Riley was getting through, ’midst -the lava, ’round the enemy’s left, so as to take the village north’ards -on the road, and put a wedge betwixt Valencia and Santy Annie. For -I tell you Santy Annie himself was up the road about two miles with -twelve thousand more Mexicans, ready to reinforce if necessary. He’d -been feeding in troops right along. Now to nip that in the bud and -to help Riley, Scott ordered Cadwalader forward by like route, sent -for Shield’s brigade of Mohawks――the New Yorkers and South Caroliny -Palmettos in waiting at San Augustine――and added Pierce’s Fifteenth -Infantry. Pierce’s horse fell in the rocks and hurt the general’s -knee, but Colonel Morgan took the Fifteenth to position. Old Davy -(Twiggs, you know) on his own hook had detached Persifor Smith with -the Rifles, First Artillery and Third Infantry, to the same point. And -at dark there they all were, every regiment, under Smith: posted near -the village at Valencia’s left and rear――thirty-three hundred of ’em, -cut off from Twiggs on the south by the six thousand of Valencia, and -threatened on the north by Santy Annie’s twelve thousand.” - -“What’s to be done nixt, wud ye think?” - -“Cap’n Lee, of the engineers, made his way back to general headquarters -at San Augustine. He got in about eleven o’clock with dispatches――the -only officer out of eight that tried to open communication between -Smith and Scott. He came all the way from Smith, some four miles across -the lava, and through the Mexican scouts――had to feel with hands and -knees, for it’s black as the inside of your hat, out doors, and raining -pitchforks. Smith intends to attack by the rear at daylight, before -Santy Annie gets down from up the road; asks for a frontal attack at -same time to help him out. So I guess we’ll all be in it, for Twiggs’ll -need every man.” - -A little silence fell on the group. Jerry’s heart beat rapidly. The -situation seemed serious. - -“I pity those poor fellows yonder acrost the lava,” Sergeant Mulligan -uttered. “Hark to the rain, now! It’s a crool night. An’ they’ve been -marchin’ an’ fightin’ all the long day, an’ likely the most of ’em are -lyin’ out soakin’ wet an’ hungry besides. Did we lose many, have you -heard?” - -“Haven’t heard exactly, sergeant. The batteries lost fifteen officers -and men and thirteen horses. The infantry got off better, for the -batteries took the brunt of it. But to-morrow――――. You see, at San -Augustine there are only the Marines and Second Pennsylvania; and here -we are. That’s the reserve, except the dragoons――and they’re no good on -the lava. Twiggs has only the Ninth and Twelfth Regulars of Pierce’s -brigade in Pillow’s Third Division in front of Valencia. To make a -proper diversion there and support Smith and mebbe hold off Santy Annie -he’ll need help. I’ll go you a month’s pay we’ll be called on before -daylight.” - -“Faith, if we’re in for a fight, I mane to sleep,” Sergeant Mulligan -growled. - -The group broke up. Jerry crept back to bed. He scarcely had dropped -off into an uneasy sleep himself when the galloping hoofs of a horse -aroused him――just as if he had been expecting the very thing. - -The horse passed the barn in a hurry; bound for Colonel Garland’s -headquarters, perhaps. Orders! In five minutes the sentry on post -outside the barn challenged again: - -“Who comes there?” - -A voice answered shortly. Then the door opened, and the same voice――that -of Adjutant Nichols――shouted: - -“Men! Men! Wake up, all hands! First sergeants, parade your companies -and call the rolls immediately. The officers will then take command.” - - - - -XVII - -CLEARING THE ROAD TO THE CAPITAL - - -There was something in the ring of the adjutant’s voice which wakened -every man in a jiffy, as though they all had been dreaming of battle. - -“Beat the long roll, drummers!” - -But already the vast room was astir with voices and figures. Fires -were being kicked together, lanterns and candles being lighted; the -companies formed in half darkness; they called off. Outside, the rain -was still pouring. - -“Where we going now?” - -“What time is it, anyhow?” - -“Two o’clock, my lad.” - -“B’jabers, we’ll nade cat’s eyes.” - -“Weel, there’ll be licht enow whin the powder burns.” - -“Be it to San Antonio or to Contreras, I wonder.” - -“What difference to you, whether up the road or down?” - -“’Tis to Contreras, wid this early start. I’m thinkin’.” - -“An’ do we go on empty stomicks?” - -“We’re to help out the other lads at Contreras, boys,” said a sergeant. -“Five or six miles is all. So what does the matter of an empty stomach -count? You can eat from your haversacks as we march; and by breakfast -time we’ll be sampling the camp fare of those Mexicans. We’ll be fair -in time for breakfast with ’em, and the fires’ll all be made to save -us the trouble.” - -The company officers had bustled in; got the reports from the first -sergeants. There were orders. - -“Company A, by the left flank! Left――face! For’d――march!” - -“Company B, by the left flank! Left――face! For’d――march! Right -oblique――march!” - -And so on. Thus they all filed out of the barn door into the rain and -the darkness, where the regimental officers were waiting. - -“By company, into line――march! Left wheel――march! Company――halt! -Right――dress!” - -“Sure, how can a man right dress when he can’t see?” - -“Silence in the ranks!” - -“Form platoons――quick――march!” - -“Close up on the leading company, captains!” - -It was a jumble. Jerry found his place with the rest of the music by -guesswork. - -“Is that you, Jerry?” little Mike Malloy, drummer of Company A, -whispered. His teeth were chattering. - -“Yes, Mike.” - -“An’ are we goin’ into battle?” - -“Looks like it, Mike.” - -“Oh, murther,” Mike groaned. “We’ll all be dead wid cold before we get -kilt entoirely wid bullets.” - -“Battalion, forward――route step――march! Close up, men; close up,” -shouted Major Lee. “Don’t straggle. Drum major, sound a march.” - -“How can we sound a march wid the drums soaked an’ the fifes drownded?” -Mike complained. - -The First Brigade was in motion, marching back down the road for San -Augustine. The music proved a dismal failure. Presently, stumbling and -slipping in the mud, with clothes and knapsacks weighing a ton to the -man, the column was passing the camp of the Second Brigade. The Second -Brigade’s fires had long been quenched, but sentries could be dimly -seen; beside the road figures were lying rolled in blankets, lights -were glimmering feebly in the guard tent and brigade headquarter’s tent. - -The Second Brigade was not going! The First Brigade had been selected! -Hooray! And the Clarke men would be sick when they knew. Jerry chuckled -to himself, thinking of Hannibal, who was missing out. At the same time -he wondered whether he would see Hannibal again. But General Worth was -with the First. His voice had been heard. And no doubt Old Fuss and -Feathers was impatiently waiting, bent upon victory. - -Slosh, slosh, slide and stumble, in the downpour and the blackness. - -“Close up, men! Close up! Keep in touch.” - -After what seemed to be a long, long time they were trudging heavily -through silent San Augustine, south of the lava field. Except for -cavalry pickets, it appeared to be deserted. The reserve there――the -Marines and Second Pennsylvania――had gone. General Scott of course had -gone. All the infantry and artillery were being gathered at Contreras -for a decisive fight. - -Slosh, slosh, slide and stumble and grumble. After another long time -the darkness began to thin. Pretty soon the column might see the muddy -road and the outskirts. The clouds were breaking over the mountains in -the south and the lava field in the north. The road was thickly marked -by footprints and by furrows filled with water, where the artillery -wheels had cut deeply. - -The way veered sharply north into the lava field, amidst curious ashy -cones high with flat tops as if they had burst open; the brush had been -hacked down and leveled and crushed. General Worth and staff spurred -ahead. The sun was reddening the east. Jerry could see the men’s faces, -pinched and dirty, white and unshaven. The ranks were panting――their -shoes clogged with mud, their uniforms drenched and smeared, their guns -and knapsacks dripping. How far were Contreras and the Mexican army -now? A fight would be warming, if nothing else. Any instant a halt -might be ordered to recharge the muskets and get ready. - -Hark! The fresh morning air was set atremble by another roll of cannon -and musketry fire. Smoke arose before, maybe two miles distant in the -northwest. The battle had opened again; the men strained forward. -Adjutant Nichols galloped back along the ranks. - -“Hurry, men! At the double! Sound the double, there, drum major! Come, -come, men! Double time――march!” - -Colonel Garland had turned and shouted and waved his sword. Jerry -essayed to join in beating double time. The men tried to respond. They -surged into a shambling trot, but they could not keep it up on the -slippery road, carrying their soaked clothes and knapsacks, their -muskets and mud-laden shoes. - -They grunted and panted and wheezed and stumbled. The firing had -increased under the smoke cloud. It continued furiously for about a -quarter of an hour, while the First Brigade toiled at its best and the -officers urged. Then the battle tumult died almost as quickly as it had -been born; and there were cheers, instead, not the shrill “Vivas” of -the Mexicans, but the hearty “Huzzahs” from American throats. - -“Hurrah, boys! The works are taken. Hear that? It’s victory!” - -“Huzzah, huzzah, huzzah!” - -The column actually quickened pace over the wet brush and lava rocks, -with faces flushed by excitement. The sun beams touched the tips of -the lava cones――and see! Away off there, where the smoke cloud swirled -in the morning breeze, the Stars and Stripes gleamed from the top of -a hill. The firing still persisted, lessened by distance, as if the -Mexicans were being pursued northward. - -Here came General Worth, splashing recklessly down the rough trail, his -horse lathered with sweat, his dark, handsome face shining as he waved -his hat. - -“Contreras is taken. Halt your column, colonel.” Then his face -stiffened. “What’s this, sir? The orders were to leave the knapsacks -on a forced march. Now instead of being fresh for a hard day’s fight -my men are broken down already! This is no way to bring soldiers -upon the field. Counter-march, sir, as soon as possible, to our old -position, and await further orders to advance on the enemy. Deposit -the knapsacks there and let the men rest, sir.” - -He spoke loudly and angrily. Colonel Garland answered not a word, but -whitened and saluted. The general had been heard by half the brigade. -They gave him a cheer. He was a leader to be depended upon when it -was a matter of fighting. Rather nervous, beforehand, but a reliable -commander in the field. - -Now for San Antonio, no doubt. Back they were marched, through the -mud, five miles――and every foot of the way they feared that the Second -Brigade might be in ahead of them, after all. But it was not. It was -only under arms. They exchanged cheers with it, as grimy and tired and -hungry they plodded by. Jerry saw Hannibal standing, drum slung, in the -field-music ranks of the Eighth, and reported to him with a flourish of -the arm. - -At the old camping place, near the big barn, the First Brigade took -time to swallow hot coffee, scrape some of the mud off, and dry in the -warm sunshine. But all too soon orders were given to fall in, with -blanket rolls, and with two days’ rations of beef and bread in the -haversacks. The lieutenants and first sergeants passed along behind the -ranks, inspecting every cartridge box, weeding out the cartridges that -looked wet, and inserting fresh ones. The loads were withdrawn from the -muskets; dry loads were rammed home. Serious business was ahead. - -The ranks were closed. The regimental commanders made short speeches to -their men. Major Francis Lee addressed the Fourth. - -“Men,” he said, “we are going into battle. The First Division has -the honor of forcing San Antonio from the front, to open the road for -the heavy artillery, while the Pillow new regiments are taking it in -reverse or at the rear. But they have the longer way to come, from -Contreras, and the First Division must get in first. Then we shall push -right on to Churubusco and join the fight there.” - -“Huzzah! Huzzah!” - -“We have good news to support us, and do not need any help from the -Pillow men.” - -“No, no!” - -“Contreras entrenchments were taken in seventeen minutes by only two -thousand men. The Riley Brigade of the Second Division, composed of -the Second and Seventh Infantry, the Fourth Artillery, with the Rifles -added, took it alone at the point of the bayonet. General Cadwalader’s -Eleventh Infantry and Voltigeurs followed close. The remainder of the -Second Division, being the Third Infantry and First Artillery, led by -Major Dimick in place of General Persifor Smith, who commanded the -whole movement, arrived in time to break the last resistance, and the -rout was received by General Shield’s New Yorkers and Palmettos on -the road north. But the colors of the Seventh Infantry were again the -first to be raised. The Fourth Artillery captured two of its guns that -had been lost at Buena Vista last spring. The entire Mexican force of -seven thousand troops, called the ‘flower of the Mexican army,’ was -dispersed, leaving two thousand dead, wounded and prisoners, all the -artillery, ammunition, provisions, and the military chest. Our own -loss is less than sixty. The only fortified points between us and the -capital, seven short miles, are San Antonio and Churubusco; and these -are being enveloped by the victors of Contreras. Let us push on, so -that our comrades of the other divisions shall not do all the fighting. -Now, three cheers for victory!” - -They cheered thunderously. The drums rolled. The two other -regiments――Second and Third Artillery――were cheering. But see! The -Second Brigade had passed――was obliquing out over the lava field, on -the west or left, as if to make circuit and attack the enemy’s flank. -The ranks and their flags dipped amidst the sharp ridges. - -“Companies, right wheel――march! Forward, quick――march!” - -Huzzah! The First Brigade also was off. The time was about eight -o’clock in this morning of August 20. - -In a few minutes the breastworks of San Antonio village were plainly -visible not half a mile up the road. They extended to the lava on the -west; on the east they stretched through marshy ground in shape of a -long quarter circle bending back so as to front the bogs of the lake. - -The lava side was bad enough, but the other side was worse. The First -Brigade kept on by the road. - -“Fourth Battalion, by the left flank――march! Hurry up, men!” - -Assistant Adjutant-General Mackall, of the division staff, had shouted. -The ranks of the Fourth immediately left-faced. In double file they -scrambled down from the high road and formed company front again in the -muddy cornfield that lay between the road and the lava field. - -“Battalion, forward――quick time――march!” - -The drums tapped quick time. Now the Second Brigade was well out in the -lava, its line of battle resembling a great flock of goats. The Fourth -Infantry was next, at the same side of the road but below, hurrying -through the boggy cornfield. The remainder of the First Brigade -stretched across the road and was forging straight on. - -“Bang! Bang! Bangity-bang-bang-bang-g-g-g!” - -The Second Brigade was in action――perhaps driving the Mexican -skirmishers. Hannibal was there with the Eighth. The firing increased -to battle din; cheers echoed, smoke drifted, and in the corn the Fourth -Infantry could see little except the green stalks and the mud and the -ditches that had been cut. - -“Trail arms! Double time――march!” - -How they hustled, almost dead with the ten and more miles marched -already, and with stomachs curiously empty again. Beating the double, -Jerry and the other drummers had hard work to hold their places. They -and the fifers formed two ranks behind the left center company; this -was the field music position in order of battle. - -“Battalion, ready! Stoop, men!” - -The musket locks clicked. Close before, between the stalks of corn, -breastworks could be seen, the muzzles of cannon staring blackly. The -Mexicans were reserving their fire here; but out to the left the firing -had grown fiercer and was traveling on toward San Antonio. Farther in -the north other firing swelled louder and louder. But here――――! Why -didn’t the Mexican breastworks open? Anything was better than this -suspense, when a sheet of flame was expected every moment! - -“Forward, men! Forward! Steady!” And suddenly: “Fourth Infantry――charge!” - -“Hooray! Huzzah! Huzzah!” - -The drums beat the charge, Jerry pounding lustily as he ran. The men -yelled――a Cerro Gordo shout. They stumbled, fell, splashed into ditches -four feet wide. Lieutenant Grant was running and waving his sword in -front of his company. All the officers were cheering on their men. The -breastworks loomed higher, the cannon muzzles gaped wider. - -The line swept on; the front rank began to climb――the men slipping -and clutching and clinging, and ever advancing their muskets to pull -trigger. Over they went with yells renewed; up and over went the rear -rank, and over went the fifers and drummers, tumbling into the cheering -mass. - -The breastworks were empty. Onward extended the road, with the Mexican -artillery and infantry, mingling with horses and women, legging -pellmell in a mass for San Antonio town――through the little town and -out again. - -“On, men! On!” - -Now it was a race. Look! The Second Brigade was closing in and firing. -So rapidly it descended from the lava, beyond the village, that it -struck the rout right in the middle――cut the mass in two. The first -portion broke and fled east, across the fields; the Second Brigade -halted in the gap, while the other half of the Mexicans scurried faster -up the road for Churubusco. - -The Fourth Infantry joined the Second Brigade at the instant when the -remainder of the First Brigade came in. Everybody was laughing and -cheering, but there was no time to be lost. - -“To the color! Beat to the color, drummers! Battalions, form companies! -Forward――double time――march!” - -The First Division ran on. The whole elevated road before was a sight. -The two miles to Churubusco, lined by shade trees, was a solid jumble -of Mexicans――infantry, artillery, lancers, camp followers and baggage -wagons, flying for dear life. Wounded were dropping out, guns were -being abandoned, teamsters and cannoneers were lashing their horses. It -was a rout indeed. - -And yonder in the northwest another rout pelted in: Santa Anna’s -reserves, from near Contreras, pursued hotly by the Twiggs Second -Division, all aiming for Churubusco. - -The First Division was right upon the heels of the San Antonio -fugitives. The men were wild with excitement; nobody thought now of -weariness. - - - - -XVIII - -IN THE CHARGE AT CHURUBUSCO - - -Churubusco, into which the Mexicans from the south and from the west -were pouring, bristled with defenses. They seemed to be mainly on the -left or west of the road. First, there was the straggling village, half -encircled by breastworks, with an immense stone church rising high -above everything, and already spouting smoke from its cannon mounted -upon the walls and the flat roof. There were cornfields and fruit trees -upon both sides of the road, and beyond the church there was a stone -bridge carrying the road across what appeared to be a large canal, -reaching from the lake on the east into the cornfields and meadows of -the west. It was at least a mile in length, piled with earth on either -bank, like a dike, and absolutely filled with infantry and artillery, -protected by the earthen parapets. - -The end of the bridge in front of the earthworks, at the middle of the -dike, had been built up into a regular stone fort, containing a battery -under cover. While farther on, occupying the road after it had left the -village and the bridge, there were thousands more infantry and lancers, -swelled by the Santa Anna force. - -The column had halted, the men ceased cheering, and General Worth and -staff surveyed Churubusco through their glasses. - -It was an anxious moment. The enemy certainly numbered twenty thousand, -well stationed. The bridgehead and the dike had opened with cannon -balls which came ricocheting down the road and splashed the mud and -water of the cornfields. But the men paid little attention to them. -Hooray! Here was General Pillow, at last, with the General Cadwalader -brigade of Voltigeurs and Eleventh and Fourteenth Infantry――toiling in -from the west and uniting with the First Division on the road. He had -arrived too late for San Antonio, but was in time for Churubusco. - -The men were growing impatient. Within a few minutes the gunfire from -Churubusco had risen deafening. The church was being attacked; it -fairly vomited smoke and shot and shell; every inch of it seemed alive. -The fields to the west of it were answering. Infantry in thin lines -could be seen stealing forward; a battery was hammering hard. - -“Twiggs! Old Davy’s there, with Taylor’s battery!” - -How the men knew, nobody could tell; but know they did. The word passed -that General Persifor Smith’s First Artillery and Third Infantry were -attacking the church. They appeared to be suffering, for they were -within point-blank range of the roof-top and the cupola, and had no -cover except the corn. - -Another brigade――Colonel Riley’s Second and Seventh Infantry――was -hastening to the support of General Smith. The firing had spread to the -north, as if an attack was being made all along the line of the road. -The time was nearing noon but the smoke welled in such a cloud that it -hid the sun. Amidst the terrific uproar of artillery and small-arms the -orders of the First Division officers could scarcely be heard, here -half a mile away from the battle. - -“Column, attention! Forward――march!” - -The cannon balls tore in more and more viciously. The musketry of the -bridgehead also opened. Men were falling. - -“Column, right half wheel――march!” - -In column of companies they left the road and descended into the muddy -cornfields again on the right. One company stayed upon the road. It -was the gallant Sixth Infantry, advancing alone, moving very steadily, -the men gripping their muskets at right shoulder shift. The bluff old -Major Bonneville, that bald-headed veteran who, on leave of absence in -1832, had been a fur hunter across the Rocky Mountains, commanded the -Sixth. He was a Frenchman, but had graduated from the Military Academy -in 1813, so he was no new hand at the fighting game. - -The Cadwalader Voltigeurs had been stationed in reserve. The two other -regiments――the Eleventh and Fourteenth――had joined the Second Brigade. -The First Brigade, Colonel Garland leading a-horse, swung out wider -to the right, and on through the corn, at the double, came the Second -Brigade, to march between the First Brigade and the road. - -Unless the Garland brigade hurried, the Clarke column would strike the -bridgehead first, on the shorter inside track. - -The Sixth Regiment was drawing the bridgehead fire. The companies were -rushing forward, muskets at a ready, but they met such a storm of -iron and lead that they crumpled, stopped, and firing furiously, took -shelter along the sides of the road. - -“On the first battalion, deploy column! Battalions, right -face――quick――march!” - -It was a wonder that the order, issuing from the red face of Adjutant -Nichols, could be heard at all. The First Brigade extended to the right -at a run, and front-faced on line of battle. Jerry and the field music -of the Fourth were behind again; now the positions of the lieutenants -was two paces in the rear of the rear rank of their companies. It -chanced that Lieutenant Grant was directly before Jerry’s place in the -rank of drummers. Jerry kept an eye upon him. - -These cornfields were cut by ditches of water as the others had -been. The double line grew ragged as the men leaped the ditches. -The bridgehead and the dike were firing――with patter and hiss the -grape-shot and bullets ripped through the corn. The Mexican works were -higher than the cornfield, so that the division’s advance could be seen -while the Mexicans themselves were concealed. - -Oh, but it was frightful in that cornfield! “Center guide, men! Keep up -with the colors. Center guide!” Lieutenant Grant and the other officers -shouted constantly. The color guard of the regiment pressed stanchly, -braced and holding the Stars and Stripes and the flag of the Fourth -Infantry above the murderous hail. Men were falling fast; they plunged, -or reeled and sank, some of them in the mud and some of them into the -water. As quickly as gaps occurred in the front rank, men from the -second rank sprang forward and filled the spaces. The corn bowed to the -withering blast. Ahead, Mexicans were jumping up and dodging for cover -after firing. The enemy’s skirmishers were being dislodged from their -holes. - -What a noise! Thousands of guns, large and small, near and far, -speaking at once! The whole American army, except a tiny reserve, -was engaged with the whole Mexican army in the field. It was a fight -to a finish of eight thousand against twenty thousand. Somewhere -General Scott directed. It was safe to say that Old Fuss and Feathers -knew just what was going to happen; his plans had been made; and -although the First Division, with the help of General Cadwalader’s two -regiments, seemed to have been given the toughest job in the taking -of the bridgehead and the opening of the road, Jerry for one had not -the slightest doubt of the result. The Mexicans would be threshed, of -course. - -On surged the double line and on; bending and weaving and staggering, -but ever on. The wounded and the dead were left. There was blood, -and ghastly sights. A bullet sang so close over Jerry’s head that he -ducked. A shower of grape spattered all around him. Drum Major Brown -was down――his leg had collapsed under him. - -“Never mind me, boys.” - -Jerry heard a cry――“Help! For th’ love o’ Hiven, help, wan o’ yez!” - -He glanced behind. Corporal Finerty was bleeding and struggling, on -hands and knees, in a ditch with the water almost over him. Jerry -hustled back and dragged him out; then ran forward. It was no joke -being a drummer boy in a battle, for a fellow could do little with a -musician’s short sword fit only for frying bacon. - -“Double time, men! Hurrah!” - -How they all panted, and what a sight they were, muddy and smeared with -blood and sweat. - -“Commence――firing!” - -“Huzzah! Give ’em Yankee Doodle, boys!” - -The darkly scowling faces of the rows of Mexicans behind the dike -breastworks could be seen. Their white teeth flashed from their lips -parted in the swarthy countenances flattened against the gunstocks. The -musket muzzles belched smoke; so did the cannon of the bridgehead to -the left. The soldiers in front of Jerry were aiming, firing, pausing -to load――to tear their paper cartridges with their teeth, dump a little -of the powder into the opened pan under the raised flint, pour the rest -into the muzzle, ram the paper and the three buckshot and a ball home -with the ramrod; aim, fire, and run again, loading. - -The blue line was slowly moving in. The men worked like Trojans. Now -the buttons of the rows of red-capped Mexicans were showing, so near -were the trenches. Jerry stumbled along right behind Lieutenant Grant, -who never ceased shouting, never ducked nor dodged, and somehow had not -been hit yet. - -The First Brigade advance had come to a standstill, while the ranks -fired more rapidly. The Mexicans were leaking away――wounded and -staggering, or running scot free. A tremendous cheer arose above even -the other tumult. The Second Brigade was into the bridgehead! A torrent -of blue blouses, firing and charging with the bayonet, the officers -leading and waving, had crossed a wide ditch at its base on this -side. The men were diving in through the battery embrasures or scaling -the walls like cats. In they went――in by the road went the Sixth -Infantry. The flags of the Eighth and Fifth disappeared over the top; -soon the flag of the Sixth was dancing to meet them. Out boiled the -Mexicans, artillery and infantry, and streamed in a tossing tide up the -bridge and into the north, or else into the trenches on the west. The -bridgehead had been taken by front and side. - -“Now, men! On! Charge!” - -“The bayonet, lads! The cowld steel!” shrieked old Sergeant Mulligan to -Company B. - -The drummers beat the charge; with a volley and a yell the Fourth -Infantry and all the line ran for the dike. The Mexicans in it answered -with one volley; out they bolted. Right through the canal, shoulder -deep with mud and water, the men scrambled, and leaped over the other -bank. The Mexican red-caps, throwing away muskets and knapsacks, were -frantically crowding the built-up road where it crossed the lowlands -beyond the bridge. - -The bridgehead had been the key. The enemy’s left was emptied; the -trenches along the dike west of the road were still fighting, but -Duncan’s battery had come into action. It had been unable to advance -through the cornfields; had continued by the road, under cover of a -mass of abandoned wagons from San Antonio. It was firing from the -road――never had guns been served faster. The four pieces made one -continuous roar, cannonading the west trenches that reached all the way -to the great stone church set in the midst of other field works. - -The bridgehead’s captured guns also were being turned. That was too -hot for the Mexicans. Out they, too, boiled, fleeing madly through the -fields to the rear. - -Duncan’s battery and a four-pounder in the bridgehead changed to the -church and battered the walls. The Second Division, with Taylor’s -battery of the First Artillery, was still battering from the other -side. A white flag fluttered in the smoke upon the church’s flat roof. -It vanished――it had been hauled down. Now the Second Division line -sprang to its feet and charged. The church was surrounded by double -walls――the blue figures mounted the first wall――the church cupola was -crumbling under the solid shot――the church was about to be taken――no! -The wall was cleared by the Mexican sharp-shooters upon the roof. Yes! -The wall filled again, the men vaulted over and down and rushed for the -second wall――the sharp-shooters were leaping from the cupola and off -the roof――the Mexican cannon had been silenced――there were more white -flags――“Cease firing!” pealed the artillery bugles, for the standard of -the Third Infantry, blue and gold, had unfurled from the balcony. In a -moment the standard of the First Artillery was displayed beside it. - -The First Division, jumbled all together, the men cheering and waving -and even crying with joy, had paused to watch――had paused for orders, -maybe, to assault the church itself. Jerry found himself grabbed by -Hannibal――a grimy, excited Hannibal, wild with excitement, like the -rest. - -“We did it, we did it! Hooray! And you and I aren’t hurt.” - -“But we lost a lot of men,” Jerry panted. - -“Fall in! Fall in! Form companies. Beat the rally, drummers.” Those -were the orders. Hannibal scooted. General Worth was waiting no longer. -There was heavy firing in the north, where Santa Anna was standing off -the left of General Scott’s line. - -“Who’s yonder?” - -“Shields and his Mohawks, and the Pierce Brigade. They’re hard pushed.” - -“Forward――double time――march!” - -The Cadwalader men had joined again. They had entered the bridgehead -closely behind the Second Brigade. In column of platoons all doubled -up the road, which was strewn with bodies and plunder. The rout was on -before and extended as far as eye might see; but a desperate battle was -raging only a mile distant. - -The column was in time; in fact, may not have been needed. The flight -from the bridgehead and the church proved too much for the Santa Anna -soldiers. General Pierce’s Ninth, Twelfth and Fifteenth Regulars, -and General Shields’ New Yorkers and South Carolinans, two thousand -men, were having a give-and-take with General Santa Anna’s reserve -of four thousand infantry and three thousand lancers. But before the -General Worth and General Pillow column arrived, the Mohawks were -seen to charge――the Mexicans did not stand――their line wavered, the -Pierce Regulars struck it on right and left――the center burst apart, -all the line broke into fragments, fleeing for the road; and when the -First Brigade, led by General Worth and Colonel Garland, panted in the -Santa Anna troops had mingled with the vast throng of refugees from -Churubusco. - -The Pierce Regulars and the Shields’ Volunteers met the van of the -First Division. - -“On, men! To the city!” - -No time was granted to the Mexicans to re-form; their infantry, -artillery and camp followers jammed the road and flowed out upon -either side. Lancers protected the rear, and threatened the pursuit. -Matters looked good. The First Division, both of General Pillow’s Third -Division brigades (General Cadwalader’s and General Pierce’s), and -the Shields Mohawks were united, a victorious little army, and cared -nothing about the lancers; the road to the capital was open. Hooray! - -But―― - -“Column, halt!” - -The drums beat, the bugles rang. - -The column was two miles and a half from Churubusco, and only a mile -and a half from the city gate. The Mexican rout had attempted no stand; -the foremost of its dense mob were already jostling in. General Worth -evidently was uncertain what to do――whether to follow right on or -wait for orders. He and General Pillow and General Shields consulted -together, sitting their horses. Huzzah! Huzzah for the dragoons! Here -they came at a gallop, from behind, under Colonel Harney, and tore in -to General Worth. - -Colonel Harney checked them for a moment, and exchanged a word -with the general. General Worth nodded. On spurred the little -detachment――Captain Phil Kearny’s company of the First, half a company -of the Second and two companies of the Third. Captain Kearny led. -Their pennons streamed, the riders leaned forward in the saddles, -sabers were out and flashing. - -Plain to view they struck the Mexican rear guard――dashed the lancers -to one side and the other, wielding their sabers cut a lane clear to -the city gate, and disappeared in the midst of a seething mass. Colonel -Harney’s orderly bugler pelted vainly after, blowing the recall. The -Kearny detachment did not hear. The battery and the muskets of the city -gate began to fire upon friend and foe alike. It looked as though the -dragoons were entering the gate itself. No――back they galloped, Captain -Kearny with his left arm dangling and bloody, two other officers -wounded, and several troopers reeling in the saddle. - -An aide from General Scott hastened in with dispatches. General Scott -directed that the pursuit cease. The column was counter-marched a -short distance and bivouacked. Dusk was descending from the mountains, -announcing the end of a long, long day. Suddenly Jerry and everybody -else felt exhausted. They had been upon their feet since before -daylight; had been marching and fighting for sixteen hours, with not -much to eat. - -The first thought was “coffee.” As soon as arms were stacked the First -Division bustled to gather wood. Down the road other divisions were -doing the same. The hospital men could be seen searching the field of -battle, far and near, for the wounded. - - - - -XIX - -BEFORE THE BRISTLING CITY - - -Before supper was finished the clouds had gathered; darkness set in -early, with every prospect of rain again; the men were still too -excited to lie down――they collected in groups around the campfires and -talked things over. - -Jerry simply had to find Hannibal and compare notes. On his way to the -Second Brigade he met him coming on. They returned together to the -campfire line of the Fourth Regiment and squatted there. - -The Fourth Regiment would never be the same again. Just how many it had -lost in killed and wounded was not yet known, but in Jerry’s own little -mess Corporal Finerty was greatly missed. He and Drum Major Brown had -been put in hospital back at Churubusco, it was said, and were due to -recover. - -All agreed that of the Regulars the First Division had suffered the -most severely. In the Second Division, which attacked the church from -the open, the First Artillery had lost five officers; the Second -Infantry had lost four; reports from the Third and Seventh Infantry -were not in. - -There was much praise for the new Third Regular Division, and the -Mohawks, of the Fourth Division. In the Cadwalader brigade of the -Third, which supported the First Division against the bridgehead, -Lieutenant J. F. Irons, aide-de-camp to General Cadwalader, had been -killed. General Franklin Pierce, leading the other brigade in the -march to oust Santa Anna, had fainted from pain. That fall from -his horse at Contreras had proved to be very serious. The Shields -Mohawks and the Pierce Ninth, Twelfth and Fifteenth Regulars had -outbattled Santa Anna’s seven thousand. The South Carolina Palmettos -had formed center of line. Their colonel, Colonel P. M. Butler, had -been wounded, had refused to leave, and then had been killed; their -Lieutenant-Colonel Dickinson had been mortally wounded next, and -Major Gladden had commanded. Colonel Burnett, of the New Yorkers, had -been carried from the field. So had Colonel Morgan, of the Fifteenth -Infantry. Of the two hundred and seventy-two Palmettos in the final -charge one hundred and thirty-seven had fallen. But General Shields had -taken three hundred and eighty prisoners. - -Out of the seven cavalry officers who charged with the one hundred -dragoons to the city gates, three had been badly wounded (Captain -Kearny’s arm had been amputated at the hospital), and Lieutenant Ewell -had had two horses shot under him. Major Mills, of the Fifteenth -Infantry, who had joined as a volunteer, had been killed. - -The whole army had been in action, except the Second Pennsylvania and -the Marines, who had been kept at San Augustine with General Quitman to -guard the supplies; and the Fourth Artillery, who had been ordered to -stay at Contreras. - -“’Twas this way,” old Sergeant Mulligan explained to the listening -group at the campfire: “In wan day we’ve done what no mortal army ever -did afore. We’ve fought foive distinct battles, by daytachments, so -to speak――eight thousand of us divided up to lick thirty thousand -Mexicans. An’ lick ’em we did, ivery time, in spite o’ their breastworks -an’ forts an’ their chosin’ their own positions. We give ’em the field, -an’ then we tuk it. First there was Contreras: thirty-foive hundred -Americans ag’in seven thousand active enemy wid twelve thousand standin’ -ready to pitch in. Second, there was San Antonio, where twenty-six -hundred of us saw mainly the backs o’ thray thousand. Third, the -bridgehead an’ thim entrenchments, where we were outnumbered not more’n -two to wan; an’ fourth, the church, wid the Second Division stormin’, -say thray or four to wan; an’ fifth, the Gin’ral Shields foive rigiments -of belike two thousand breakin’ the hearts o’ Gin’ral Santy Annie’s -siven thousand. Now I’d like to hear whut Old Fuss an’ Feathers has to -say.” - -“You’ll hear him,” asserted a man from a searching detail, who had come -up from the rear. “At Cherrybusco he is, still; proud as a king, the -tears of him choking his voice. He’s thanking every division in turn; -he’ll not forget the First that opened the way.” - -“And where was he during the fracas?” - -“In the rear of Twiggs, directing the fight and sending in the -regiments. So fast he sent ’em forward after Contreras that b’gorry -he found himself left all alone, and had to get some dragoons for an -escort.” - -“An’ whut does he say about the desarters, I’m wonderin’?” - -“Desarters?” exclaimed several voices. - -“Sure, lads. Sixty-nine were taken: twenty-seven at the church and the -rest by Shields. The artillery battalion o’ Saint Patrick they’re -called――an insult to the name. Every man once wore the United States -uniform, and this day they turned the guns upon their own comrades. Tom -Riley is their captain. The most of ’em desarted from Taylor, in north -Mexico, with hopes of better pay and positions. ’Twas they who held out -longest at the church. Three times they pulled down the white flag, for -they well knew they were in a tight place. Hanged they’ll be, as they -desarve.” - -“I dunno,” spoke somebody. “Old Fuss and Feathers has a soft heart in -him for the enlisted man. Now if they were officers he’d give ’em short -shift.” - -“Did you find many wounded, poor fellows?” the detail man was asked. - -“Not near enough before darkness. There’s like to be a hundred of the -First lying now in the cornfields――and the rain closing down.” - -“That’s bad, bad. What with the mud and the corn and the ditches, it -must be a sore place to search.” - -“We’re doing our best.” - -“Well, lads,” Sergeant Mulligan uttered, “I’m wet through already, an’ -I’m goin’ to turn in, for to-morrow we’ll likely take the city. An’ why -we didn’t go for’d an’ take it this evenin’, on the heels o’ that mob, -I dunno. Wid the help o’ Shields an’ Pillow, the First could ha’ walked -right along.” - -“An’ walked into a trap, maybe. But the gin’ral had no orders, an’ he -waited too long, undecided.” - -“Yes; and the gen’ral-in-chief stopped him, too. Like as not that -United States commissioner, by name o’ Trist, who’s been followin’ with -headquarters all the way from Puebla, is instructed ag’in any more -fightin’ than is necessary. ‘Conquer a peace’; that’s the word. And if -we’ve conquered it this day, we’ll give Santy Annie a chance to say so, -after he’s calmed down a bit.” - -“Right, then,” Sergeant Mulligan agreed. “Let ’em think it over. For -if we entered in too much of a hurry ’twud be only a half-baked p’ace -after all.” - -The group broke up. - -“Good-night,” said Hannibal. “Whew, but I’m tired. It’s been a great -day, though. Oh, my eye, didn’t we thrash ’em!” - -“Rather guess,” Jerry answered. “I kept track of Lieutenant Grant. He -was right near me most the time.” - -“Where’s Pompey?” - -“Haven’t seen him. He’s hunting another money chest, like as not.” - -This night Jerry slept under a wagon, while the rain beat down. But the -thought of the wounded lying out in the dark and storm bothered him. -Battles were not pleasant. - -After breakfast the First Division was marched back to Churubusco. The -other divisions were encamped nearby. And what a sight that field of -Churubusco was! The bodies of Mexicans were piled everywhere――in the -road and in the breastworks and in the muddy fields. All the trenches -and the causeway and the road north was a mess of muskets, pistols, -swords, bayonets, lances, haversacks, cartridge boxes, knapsacks, great -coats, blankets, hats and caps, and drums, horns, fifes and the like, -enough to equip fifty bands. - -The Mexican loss was estimated at four thousand killed and wounded and -three thousand prisoners. Thirty-seven pieces of artillery had been -taken, together with an enormous quantity of small arms and supplies. - -The division was moved to the walls of the ruined church. General Scott -waited here, sitting his horse, his rugged face now glad, now sad, but -lighted proudly. The church balcony contained a number of captured -Mexican officers, gazing down as if interested. The general lifted his -hand, while the division cheered him. He seemed about to make a speech. - -“Silence, men! Silence in the ranks!” - -“Fellow soldiers,” the general shouted in his loud voice――which -trembled. “Fellow-soldiers of the First Division. Your general thanks -you from the bottom of his heart. But a reward infinitely higher――the -applause of a grateful country and Government――will, I cannot doubt, -be accorded in due time to so much merit of every sort displayed by -this glorious army which has now overcome all difficulties of distance, -climate, ground, fortifications and numbers. To the First Division -I say, as I have said to the other gallant divisions, that by the -abilities and science of the generals and other officers, by the zeal -and prowess of the rank and file, you have, in a single day, in five -battles as often defeated thirty-two thousand of the enemy. These great -results have overwhelmed him. The larger number of our own dead and -wounded are of the highest worth; the wounded under treatment by our -very able medical officers are generally doing well. Again your general -and fellow-soldier thanks you, and he will add that this work so well -accomplished will not be concluded until we place the flag of our -country upon the Halls of Montezuma.” - -“Huzzah! Huzzah! Huzzah!” - -The front rank broke; before the officers could stop them the men had -rushed forward and were fighting to grasp General Scott’s hand, and -even his stirrups. He could only spur his horse in careful fashion, and -bowing and smiling, his wrinkled cheeks wet, finally galloped away. In -a few minutes he was riding across country into the west, escorted by -Harney’s dragoons. - -About noon it was announced that all the wounded had been found and the -bodies of the slain had been buried. The roll calls of the divisions -were tabulated. Out of twenty-six hundred men the General Worth command -had lost, in killed, wounded and missing, thirteen officers and -three hundred and thirty-six rank and file; total, three hundred and -forty-nine. The Mohawks of General Shields had lost two hundred and -forty out of the two regiments. The Second Division, Regulars, had lost -two hundred; the Pillow Regulars about the same. The grand total was -one thousand and fifty-six, in which there were eighty-four officers. - -The First Division was marched west out of Churubusco by a crossroad -about two miles to the next main road, which had been opened by the -capture of Contreras; then from this road, four miles by another road -northwest to a town named Tacubaya, on the north slope of a hill only a -mile and a half from the southwestern walls of the city itself. - -General Scott was already here with the Harney dragoons detachment. -They and the First Division had the advance position. It looked as -though the general was side-stepping again. Instead of moving upon the -city by the Acapulco road (the road from San Augustine through San -Antonio and Churubusco), he was slipping around to the west and keeping -Santa Anna guessing. - -This evening word was spread that Santa Anna had proposed a truce for -the purpose of talking surrender. The men grumbled somewhat. A truce -appeared to them a Mexican trick, in order to gain time while guns and -soldiers were shifted. The United States Peace Commissioner, Mr. Trist, -who had accompanied the army from Puebla, held long meetings with the -Mexican commissioners, but the two parties did not agree upon terms. - -The peace talks continued for two weeks. During the truce neither -army was to fortify further against the other. Both were to get food -supplies without being interfered with. The Mexicans were to send out -for provisions; the Americans were to purchase provisions wherever they -could, even in the city. - -The First Division occupied the advance position of Tacubaya, and had -a good rest. Drum Major Brown and Corporal Finerty, of the Fourth -Regiment, were able to hobble about and would soon be fit for duty. The -General Pillow Third Division was a short distance south, at another -village; the Twiggs Second Division was farther south, at San Angel; -the Quitman Fourth Division of Volunteers and Marines was down at San -Augustine, in charge of the prisoners and the extra supplies. - -In Tacubaya General Scott and staff were quartered in the magnificent -palace of the archbishop of Mexico, which from the western outskirts -of the town overlooked the whole country below. Tacubaya itself was a -kind of summer resort for Mexico City; a number of English gentlemen -and wealthy city merchants lived here in great style, with villas and -out-door baths and large gardens, enclosed by walls. - -The slope of the hill fronted the capital. After duties Jerry and -Hannibal and the other First Division men paid considerable attention -to that view from the slope, for many of the city defenses were clearly -outlined. - -To the north, directly in front of Tacubaya, on the Tacubaya road to -the city and only one-half a mile distant by air, there was a huge mass -of grey rock, connected with the city walls by two short roads. The -rock mass was fortified from bottom to top by breastworks, and fringed -at its base by a long wall and embankment. On the flat crown, about -one hundred and fifty feet up, there was a great stone building――the -Military College of Mexico. The rock fell away steeply on the south and -the east sides. The engineers said that it was as steep on the north -side. The west side had a more gradual slope, covered with cypress -trees. The name of the rock was Chapultepec――or in English, Grasshopper -Hill. - -At the foot of the west slope――the timbered slope――there was a long -group of stone buildings, with flat roofs and one or two towers. At -night red flames seemed to issue from one of the roofs, as if the place -was being used as a foundry, casting guns and solid shot. The place was -called El Molino del Rey――the King’s Mill; and according to the people -in Tacubaya, it was indeed an old mill and a foundry. - -The western half of the group was the Casa-Mata, or Casemate. And this -was reported to be a powder storehouse. - -The King’s Mill and the Casa-Mata were located not only at the western -foot of Chapultepec but also at the foot of the hill-slope of Tacubaya -village. The guns of Chapultepec covered them; covered the Tacubaya -road which at the base of the rock mass ran into the two short roads -onward into the city――one entering the city at the southwest corner, -the other farther north, on the west side; covered the main road east -of Tacubaya――the Contreras road. - -To silence Chapultepec――perhaps to climb to its top with only eight -thousand men――looked like a job. The King’s Mill and the Casa-Mata -at its base might have to be taken. The city gates were defended by -batteries, and they, too, would have to be stormed. - -Lieutenant Grant good-naturedly lent his spy-glass to Jerry; through it -there might be seen the faces and costumes of the Mexican soldiers upon -Chapultepec. The castle or college itself loomed menacing with cannon, -and thick high walls and the Mexican coat of arms in colors over the -wide portico. Numbers of boys were moving about in neat uniforms. These -were the military cadets, being educated for Mexican army officers. -Some did not appear more than fourteen years old. - -Evidently they had practiced on Chapultepec hill, for as said, there -was no end of ditches and breastworks, from the college buildings down -to the last wide ditch and wall at the bottom. - - - - -XX - -THE BATTLE OF THE KING’S MILL - - -“Dar’s trouble hatchin’.” - -It was afternoon of September 7. The men of the First Division were -lying around. Pompey had come forward to where Jerry and Hannibal were -sitting with several others, debating the course of events. There had -been no fighting since August 20, when Churubusco fell. - -“Gwan, you black crow!” - -“Yes, sars. But I knows what I knows, gen’i’men. Dar’s trouble -hatchin’. Dat armorstice done busted an’ we gwine to pop it to ’em -ag’in.” - -“What?” - -“Sartin. Dis chile don’t mix up with offercers for nuffin’. The -armorstice done been busted by Gin’ral Scott hisself. Dose Santy Annies -been fortifyin’ ’gin the rules, an’ gettin’ reinforcements; an’ Gin’ral -Scott he sent a note dis berry mornin’ sayin’ dar ain’t any armorstice -any mo’ an’ Santy Annie better look out fo’ hisself. Santy Annie, he -a big liar, but Gin’ral Scott, he a big strateegis’ an’ nobody gwine -to fool him. I heah offercers talkin’; I heah Lieutenant Smith an’ -Lieutenant Grant talkin’, same as odders. Dar’s gwine to be a monster -fight, sars.” - -“B’gorry!” old Sergeant Mulligan exclaimed, slapping his thigh. “That’s -right; sure, that ixplains matters. ’Tis why Cap’n Mason, of the -ingineers, was off yonder to the front this mornin’ rayconnoiterin’; -an’ there go Mason an’ Colonel Duncan an’ Worth an’ Gin’ral Scott -himself on another trip. I’ve a feelin’ in me bones that a fight’s due.” - -“Guess we’ll have to take Grasshopper Hill for exercise,” said -Hannibal, lazily. - -“Faith, then why don’t you tell Gin’ral Scott?” the sergeant rebuked. -“Belike he’s only waitin’ for some smart drummer boy to make his plans -for him.” - -“Well, we’ve got to take it, haven’t we?” Fifer O’Toole asked. - -“Yis, barrin’ a better way. ’Tis the city we’re after, an’ what wid? -Wid an’ army o’ less than eight thousand, to-day, outside a walled city -o’ two hundred thousand an’ dayfinded by twinty thousand, snug beyant -ditches an’ stone. A job that, me lads, to open the gates. Thim dons -know we’re up to somethin’. Did yez mark quite a movement o’ troops -down below this mornin’? Says I to meself: ‘Gin’ral Santy Annie is -startin’ out to envelop our lift, or else he’s rayinforcin’ the mill -so as to get his cannon matayrial finished up.’ Faith, there’s a storm -brewin’, but I’ve been in the service too long to daypind on camp -gossip. I’ve my own ways o’ findin’ out.” - -So the sergeant arose and strolled off. - -“Same here,” Hannibal declared. He darted away for his brigade camp. - -“I’ll get the correct news meself at the hospital when I ask the doctor -to take wan more look at my leg,” Corporal Finerty, asserted, starting -out with a great pretense at hobbling. - -“Well, I’ll bide a wee jist where I am,” spoke Scotty MacPheel, smoking -his pipe. “I’ve gotten a dream, this nicht past, an’ I ken mysel’ -there’ll be gey hot wark soon. When it coomes, I’ll no be the last up -yon hill.” - -All seemed very peaceful in town and camp and upon Chapultepec rock. -The flags floated languidly above roofs and tents and battlements. But -danger brooded in the air. The armistice had been broken; everything -indicated that. The engineers were reconnoitring, as they always did -before a battle. The Mexican forces appeared somehow more alert. Now -Jerry himself got up and started out. Pompey followed him. - -“Where you gwine?” - -“Oh, just taking a walk.” - -“You gwine to find Lieutenant Grant, huh? You gwine to pester him. -Lookee hyar, white boy. Don’t you say nuffin’ ’bout me. If he or Marse -Smith find out I been tellin’ ahmy secrets, I get coht-martialed. -Understan’? Mebbe I get hanged up, like dem desarters gwine to be.” - -“Are they to be hung?” - -“Sartin. Dat’s what. A coht-martial done try ’em, an’ done say dey’s to -be hanged up, fo’ desartin’ in face ob the innimy an’ shootin’ deir own -men.” - -“Whew!” Jerry whistled. He hastened on. - -He did not find Lieutenant Grant; Corporal Finerty had learned little, -Hannibal did not come back, and Sergeant Mulligan kept mum. But all the -remainder of the afternoon the excitement in the camp increased; the -old soldiers there “smelled powder.” The reconnoitring group returned, -and there was a council of general officers at commander-in-chief’s -headquarters. Furthermore, in the early evening General Cadwalader’s -brigade of the Voltigeurs and the Eleventh and Fourteenth Infantry -with Captain Drum’s battery of the Fourth Artillery had marched in from -the General Pillow’s Third Division camp, three miles south. - -After retreat old Sergeant Mulligan plumped himself down at the supper -mess with the words: - -“We attack at daylight to-morrow, lads.” - -“Where, man?” - -“The King’s Mill an’ the Casa-Mata.” - -“And Chapultepec?” - -“Not as I know of. The Mill an’ the Casa-Mata be the First Division’s -job, helped out by the Cadwalader brigade. Sure, the ould man――an’ -I’m manin’ no disrayspect――had been a-lookin’ at yon mill from -headquarters, an’ he says, snappin’ his glass together, says he: ‘I -must daystroy that place.’ Whereby he sends in the First Division, o’ -course, wid the Cadwalader troops to watch an’ see how it’s done.” - -“An’ what does he want of those old buildin’s, when we might better be -takin’ Chapultepec?” - -“Becuz he can l’ave Chapultepec to wan side, if he likes, an’ march -into the city by another way. But Santy Annie’s short o’ guns an’ solid -shot――haven’t we captured most of his movable artillery?――an’ the -report is that he’s been meltin’ up the church bells for cannon iron. -Faith, we’ll go down an’ take them, too, before he can put ’em to use.” - -“Wid Chapultepec firin’ into us?” Corporal Finerty asked. - -“Oh, what do we care for the likes o’ Chapultepec? Ain’t ye soldier -enough to know that downhill firin’ is mighty uncertain work, -especially wid Mexican gunners? An’ they’ll be killin’ their own men, -wance we’re inside the walls. Then wid the fut o’ the hill cleared, we -can march up all the ’asier, in case such be the orders.” - -“How many Mexicans this time, I wonder?” - -“Well, the ingineers an’ Ould Fuss an’ Feathers, not to spake o’ -Gin’ral Worth himself, haven’t discivvered many, for all their -reconnoiterin’ the long day. Seems like there are cannon in the mill, -an’ in that ramshackle Casa-Mata; an’ a line o’ breastworks are -connectin’ the two. But scarce a sign o’ much of a supportin’ force of -infantry. An’ I’m thinkin’ that by an ’arly mornin’ attack we’ll walk -in after the fust scrimmage. Annyhow, we’ll get our orders; an’ it’s -soon to bed, for me, an’ a bit o’ sleep.” - -Jerry managed to get over to the Eighth Infantry and find Hannibal; a -rather sober Hannibal. - -“Couldn’t see you before,” said Hannibal. “I’ve been on detail. But you -know now; we’re to take the Mill and Casa-Mata. Three o’clock in the -morning is the hour, and no reveille. So good-by and good luck, if we -don’t meet up again.” - -“Why’s that. Will it be much of a fight, you think, Hannibal?” - -“I dunno. But I’m in the storming column――five hundred picked troops -from all the regiments. We charge first and break the center. Major -Wright, of the Eighth, commands. About half the Eighth is chosen. The -Eighth is General Worth’s own regiment, you see, and he knows what we -can do.” - -“Maybe I can get in it, too,” Jerry blurted. - -“Don’t think so. The First Brigade has only seven hundred and fifty -men; the Second had eleven hundred and fifty, so we’ll furnish the -most stormers. You fellows will have enough to do, anyhow.” - -With a “Good-by and good luck――see you later,” Jerry shook hands and -hustled back for his company. But the men from the Fourth had already -been picked. - -Fortunately there was no rain this night. When Jerry, like the others, -was aroused by the non-commissioned officers passing from mess to mess, -the stars were shining brightly. The First Brigade formed by itself, -under Colonel Garland, in the early morning gloom, and presently was -marched down the slope by a road, as if straight for the King’s Mill. -By the slight rumble of artillery wheels a battery (Drum’s battery, it -was, from the Cadwalader brigade) followed. The other brigades might be -heard, also moving, with creak of belts and cartridge boxes, dull tramp -of feet, and low lurch and rattle of cannon carriages and caissons. -Somewhere on the left cavalry equipment faintly jangled. - -Colonel McIntosh, of the Fifth Infantry, was said to be commanding the -Second Brigade; Colonel Clarke was ill. Major Wright, of the Eighth -Infantry, commanded the storming column of five hundred men picked from -all the regiments of the division. General Cadwalader commanded the -Third Division regiments. Colonel Harney had supplied six companies -of the Second Dragoons and one company of the Third, which with one -company of the Mounted Rifles, were under Major Sumner. There were -two twenty-four-pounder siege guns, under command of Captain Benjamin -Huger, chief of ordnance, and three guns of Colonel Duncan’s First -Division celebrated battery, which accompanied the Second Brigade. - -At San Antonio the First Division had numbered twenty-six hundred -officers and men; now it was down to nineteen hundred, or two thousand, -when one included the Colonel C. F. Smith battalion of Light Infantry -attached to the Second Brigade. General Cadwalader had brought about -seven hundred and fifty in his three regiments; Major Sumner’s dragoons -and Mounted Rifles numbered two hundred and ninety, the three batteries -one hundred; so that General Worth was attacking the Mill and the -Casa-Mata with some thirty-one hundred and fifty men. - -After a march forward of about a mile down the hill slope from -Tacubaya, the First Brigade was halted in line of battle. - -“Lie down, men. Silence in the ranks.” - -While they lay, the east brightened slowly over the City of Mexico and -the citadel of Chapultepec. The towers and steeples of the city began -to be outlined against the sky; Chapultepec caught the glow; all the -east became gold and pink, with the mountain ranges black along the -high horizon. Down here it was still chill and dusky. Colonel Garland, -dimly seen from his horse, addressed the line. - -“My men,” he said, “the First Division is going into battle as soon -as there is light enough. General Scott has appointed us to brush the -enemy from those buildings yonder. The First Brigade is to handle the -mill, where the enemy’s left rests. The Second Brigade will assault -the enemy’s right at the Casa-Mata. The general assault will be opened -after the artillery has prepared the way by the Major Wright storming -column, which will break the enemy’s center and cut the communications -between the mill and that powder store-house. Our own job is to isolate -El Molino and prevent aid from Chapultepec. So we must work fast. But -once in there, you know very well that we can’t be driven out. No, no; -don’t cheer. Silence! All I ask of you is to uphold the honor of the -First Brigade and the American arms.” - -The lower country was lightening, now. They all could see the -arrangements for themselves. The First Brigade occupied right of -line. Captain Drum’s battery section of three six-pounders was posted -a little to the right of the brigade. Not far on the left, or west, -were the two twenty-four-pounder siege guns of Captain Huger, with the -Light Battalion drawn up behind them in support. Beyond, in the broken -line that curved to the north so as to envelop the breastworks and the -Casa-Mata, there were the five hundred men of the Major Wright storming -column, crouched in column of platoons, and behind them the General -Cadwalader brigade, in reserve. Farther on in the west there was the -Second Brigade, and beyond it the Duncan battery section, waiting in -front of the Casa-Mata. And away on the left of line in the northwest, -there were the three squadrons of cavalry. - -Nothing had been heard from the enemy; not a movement had been sighted. -Then, suddenly, a bugle pealed; drums rattled like a volley. The sound -made everybody jump, but it was only the regulation Mexican reveille -upon Chapultepec. Never had it seemed so loud, it fairly echoed -against the mountains back of the city. - -“Boom, boom-m-m!” - -A flare of flame and a great shock in the air took one’s breath. - -“Steady, men!” Lieutenant Grant and other officers were warning. - -Huger’s siege guns had opened; and how they bellowed, blasting the -still air so that the city crashed and the mountains rumbled. - -“Boom! Boom!” The solid shot might be heard smashing through the stone -walls of the old mill five hundred yards before. Up on Chapultepec the -bugles and drums had ceased, as if frightened. The mill did not reply. -General Worth and staff, back of the storming column, could be seen -watching the effect of the bombardment; from the mill dust was rising -into the dawn. - -“Column――attention!” - -The First Brigade had been craning anxiously; the men scrambled to -their feet at the command. An aide from General Worth had galloped to -the battery; it stopped firing, and――huzzah!――the Wright column was -rushing forward at the double, down the slope, for the bottom and the -breastworks connecting the mill and the Casa-Mata. - -That was a stirring sight to witness: this little column of -blue-jacketed, round-capped soldiers charging, guns at the ready, -their officers leading, and the colors streaming overhead in the fore. -Everybody cheered――waved caps and hands; the cheering spread from the -First Brigade clear to the farthest left. - -On dashed the Wright five hundred――and that Hannibal was there, Jerry -well recalled. They slackened――an officer ran forward (he was Captain -Mason, of the engineers, who guided with Lieutenant Foster)――he ran -back, beckoning as if he had seen nothing beyond the lines of cactus -which screened the trenches; the column hastened again, was almost -there when from a few yards the whole fringing cactus spumed flame and -smoke and a great gush of grape and musket ball mowed the ranks down -like ninepins. - -But they didn’t stop. No, no! The ranks closed, with bayonets leveled -they plunged straight forward into the cactus and over the embankments -and into the trenches. The Mexican infantry and artillery were diving -right and left for shelter in the Casa-Mata and the mill. - -“Huzzah! Huzzah! Huzzah!” - -Now for the First Brigade and the seizure of the mill! But look! A -tremendous gunfire had belched from the roof and the walls of the -mill, directed into the main trench; and a column of Mexican infantry, -numbering one thousand, had charged in counter-attack from the rear -ground. - -Out came the Wright fragments, driven back and back and back, and -lessening rapidly. There looked to be scarcely any officers left. Major -Wright and both the engineers were down. - -Huzzah, though! The Light Battalion and the Eleventh Regulars of -General Cadwalader had been launched by General Worth to the rescue―― - -“Column, forward――trail arms――center guide――double time――march!” - -It was the word for the First Brigade at last. - -Chapultepec had opened with a plunging fire into the valley. The First -Brigade sped steadily down the slope for the smoking King’s Mill. - -“Charge――bayonets! Run!” - -And run they all did, with a yell, Jerry and the drummers and fifers -pelting behind, the officers to the fore, Drum’s battery following -by the road. Grape and canister and musket ball met them; men fell; -the firing was worse than that of the bridgehead at Churubusco, but -the Fourth Regiment luckily found itself in an angle of the wall -surrounding the mill yard and could rally under protection. The enemy -was inside, sheltered by the walls of the mill buildings and by sandbag -parapets upon the flat roofs. The shouting and the rapid firing -announced thousands of Mexicans. - -All the bright morning was dulled by powder and rent by the cheering, -the yelling, and the continuous reports of muskets and cannon. From -the angle of the wall where the Fourth crouched, the battlefield to -the west stretched full in view――the soldiers charging down across -it, staggering, limping, crumpling, but closing ranks as they tore -on, their bayonets set. The Cadwalader reinforcements and the Light -Battalion had mingled with the shattered Wright column; they were -bearing on together, and disappeared in the cactus-fringed trenches. -What of Hannibal, Jerry wondered. - -But here was Drum’s battery section, dragged forward by hand to a -nearer position in the road. It scarcely had been pointed and the -linstocks applied to the touch holes when every gunner was swept -away by the Mexican balls, leaving the guns alone. Led by Corporal -Finerty, out rushed a squad of the Fourth, reloaded one of the guns and -discharged it again and again. - -The men plastered within the angle of the wall were firing with their -muskets whenever they had the chance. Old Sergeant Mulligan was right -out in the open, lying behind a large cactus with broad spongy lobes, -and aiming and shooting and loading and aiming once more. He did not -seem to know that the Mexican bullets were riddling the cactus lobes as -if they were paper. - -Amidst the hurly-burly orders came to leave the cover of the wall. - -“Up, men! Battalion, by the left flank, left face, double time――march!” - -That took them to the road again. - -“Battalion, forward! Through that gate, men! Break it down! Hurrah!” - -“Huzzah! Huzzah!” - -Another great cheer had arisen. The Wright and Cadwalader column had -won the trenches connecting mill and Casa-Mata; the Mexicans were -pouring out, as before――their own cannon were being turned upon them. -Now was the time for seizing the mill at one end and the Casa-Mata at -the other. - -“Huzzah! Inside wid yez!” Sergeant Mulligan bawled, his face red and -streaming dirty sweat. - -Fast work was made with the gate. Battered by musket stocks and rammed -by flying wedges of human bodies it crashed apart. Through the opening -and over the walls on either hand the Fourth Infantry surged inside. - -All was confusion. Jerry tried hard to stick close to Lieutenant -Grant. The yard had to be crossed first――a very maelstrom of smoke and -lead――before the buildings themselves might be stormed. The Mexican -soldiers, firing from windows and roof-top, gave way never an inch. -They were obstinate to-day; brave, too. But shooting, shouting, darting -by squads, the Fourth Infantry bored in. On the other sides the rest of -the brigade was fighting stoutly also. - -It did not seem possible that anybody could live to reach those -angry buildings. Jerry――somehow not a whit afraid, so excited he -was――wormed after Lieutenant Grant, who surely had a charmed life. -The Grant detachment rammed through a door and into the first room of -the first building. A pioneer with an ax had joined. Lieutenant Grant -pointed, and the pioneer hacked a hole through a wall of the room; the -lieutenant vanished into it――they all pursued, Jerry wriggling with the -others, his drum slung on his back, his eyes smarting and watering. - -Mexican soldiers were upon the roof above. They could be heard yelling -and firing. A door from the second room led into an open corridor from -wing to wing. The lieutenant sprang back just in time――a loud report -had greeted him, and a bullet had splintered the plaster in front of -his nose. Scotty MacPheel bolted forward, musket ready; another bullet -toppled him. They dragged him into shelter. - -“’Tis nathin’, lads,” he gasped. “But bide a wee, for if there’s ane -there’s a dozen, jist a-waitin’ above.” - -“Careful, men. Watch for a red cap, and when you fire, don’t miss,” -panted the lieutenant. - -The squad ranged themselves within the doorway and peered; now and then -fired. Two Mexican soldiers tumbled asprawl into the corridor. After -a few moments there were no answering shots. One of the men――Corporal -John Hale――saluted. - -“All clear, lieutenant.” - -“Follow me, then. On, boys.” - -So they passed through the corridor into the next wing. - -By the noises the other troops were ransacking rooms in the same way. -The tumult, now loud, now muffled, was filled with American cheers. - -The next room contained Mexican soldiers driven to cover. At sight of -the entering squad they dropped their guns, even fell upon their knees, -holding up their empty hands. “Amigo, amigo――friend, friend!” they -cried. - -“Disarm these fellows and take them outside, four of you,” the -lieutenant ordered. - -On through a door and another room, and the remainder of the detachment -was outside also. The mill yard was a mass of panting blue-coats and -of herded Mexican prisoners. The guns of Chapultepec could not fire in -with safety. The battle here was over. - -Staring about in the north end of the yard Jerry noted a group of red -caps upon a roof. - -“There are some more, lieutenant.” - -“Where?” - -“On that roof.” - -“I see.” - -The lieutenant ran for the building, Jerry after. There was no way of -climbing atop. - -“Here, you men! Place that cart for me.” - -A broken cart was trundled to the wall of the building; the heavy -tongue just reached the top. Lieutenant Grant used this as a ladder. He -shinned up, Jerry following, while the men below formed file to join. - -[Illustration: LIEUTENANT GRANT USED THIS AS A LADDER] - -But somebody had been ahead of the lieutenant. He was one man: none -other than Fifer O’Toole, parading back and forth with a musket. Fifer -O’Toole grinned. - -“Sure, I’m saving ’em for you, lieutenant,” he reported. - -They were a fat Mexican major and several subalterns, with full a dozen -privates; and they were quite ready to surrender, for at sight of -Lieutenant Grant’s drawn sword they unbuckled their belts and dropped -their guns. - -“The fortunes of war, señor,” the major said in good English, shrugging -his shoulders. “We fight like men, but you Americans fight like demons.” - -“Very good, sir,” the lieutenant answered shortly, stacking the -scabbards in his arms. “Crack those muskets over the edge of the wall, -lads, and conduct these prisoners to the proper guard.” - -He himself lingered a minute upon the roof. Jerry breathlessly waited. -The mill had been taken. There were only a few scattered shots among -the buildings, as the soldiers below or ranging the roofs jumped -Mexican skulkers from hiding places; but to the west the battle was -still raging furiously. From the roof-top a good view might be had. - -The trenches connecting with the Casa-Mata had been seized; their -cannon were being used to quicken the rout hastening into the wooded -west slope of Chapultepec. All the Casa-Mata, however, was aflame with -rapid discharges, and the Second Brigade was recoiling in confusion -from before it. The Casa-Mata turned out to be a solid stone structure, -built like a fort, housing cannon and infantry, and surrounded by -ditches and breastworks. - -Lieutenant Grant chanced to mark Jerry, standing behind him. - -“They’re being cut to pieces,” he exclaimed. “General Worth, and Scott, -too, have been deceived. We should have attacked in greater force.” - -The Second Brigade was in the open――could not penetrate past the -ditches and to the Casa-Mata walls. The field was blue with bodies. -Where was Duncan’s battery? Then a sharp word from the lieutenant, who -had leveled his spy-glass, drew Jerry’s eyes also to the northwest at -very end of line. - -A dense body of lancers had sallied from the Mexican right, and -sweeping around was forming to charge and turn the American left. The -Duncan battery section, with the Voltigeurs running to keep up, was -galloping to head the lancers off. And the Sumner dragoons and Rifles -were changing front to meet the charge. - -The battery was there first――unlimbered in a twinkling――the lancers, -a mass of red and yellow, their lances set, tore in for it. Colonel -Duncan waited――waited――and when his guns at last burst into canister -and grape, with gunners working like mad, the close ranks of the -Mexican cavalry melted away in the manner of grain before a giant -scythe. The horses reared, fell, or, whirling, bore their gay riders -right and left and in retreat. - -A new gunfire crashed from the Casa-Mata. At the Second Brigade again? -No! The Second Brigade was still streaming rearward in blue rivulets, -which swirled, eddied, jetted smoke as the men desperately tried to -stand and fight, then slowly flowed on. The new gunfire had issued -from a blind trench along which the Sumner column was racing. Down -went horse and rider. Major Sumner pointed with his saber, and never -wavering, the little column, terribly thinned, dashed on for the -lancers, who had re-formed as if to charge again. - -Back came the Duncan battery, leaving the lancers to the dragoons -and Rifles. Colonel Duncan wheeled his guns into position before the -Casa-Mata once more. Quick work this was. He had not been able to do -as he wished here, because the Second Brigade infantry had masked his -fire, but now, with his field cleared, his three pieces delivered one -constant sheet of smoke, out of which the solid shot and canister sped, -ripping through the walls and deluging the parapets. - -In a moment, as it seemed, the Casa-Mata fire slackened; the doors and -windows and roof vomited Mexican soldiers, fleeing helter-skelter, -losing hats and knapsacks and muskets; veering to the north out of -reach from the mill, they pelted on for the San Cosme gateway of the -west city wall. - -With a resounding cheer the Second Brigade charged into the defenses. -The flag of the Eighth Regiment broke from the roof-top. - -Lieutenant Grant closed his glass. - -“The battle is over,” he rapped. “Now we can take Chapultepec. If -General Scott has the rest of the army in readiness we can take the -city itself before night.” Then, as he glanced quickly about: “Aha! A -counter-attack!” - -Another body of the enemy had appeared――five or six thousand infantry, -marching in along the north side of Chapultepec. And the lancers were -threatening the Sumner column in the northwest. - -“We’re getting reinforcements, too, lieutenant!” - -Down from Tacubaya village a fresh American column was hurrying, the -Stars and Stripes dancing at the fore. Now Duncan’s battery section, -Drum’s section, the Huger twenty-four-pounders, and the guns of the -captured Casa-Mata were all thundering at the retreating Mexicans. -Bugles were blowing, drums rolling. - -“We’d better find our stations, boy,” said the lieutenant. They two -piled down by way of the cart shafts. - -Jerry was scarcely in time to help beat the recall for gathering -the men. The reinforcements arrived. They were the General Pierce -brigade――Ninth, Twelfth and Fifteenth Infantry――of the Pillow Third -Division. Advancing at the double, amidst cheers, they deployed beyond -the mill, challenging the enemy to come on. The new Mexican column -hesitated, and well it did so, for here was still another brigade, -sent by General Scott; the Riley Fourth Artillery, Second and Seventh -Infantry, of the Twiggs Second Division, who from the south had -marched four miles, mostly up hill and at the double time to Tacubaya, -and thence over and down. - -Magruder’s battery, which had done such service at Contreras, was with -it; swerved to the west and opened upon the lancers; dispersed them in -disorder. - -The Mexican flight continued; the Mexican reinforcements countermarched -around Chapultepec. The battle had been won――won by the First Division, -the Cadwalader brigade of the Third, six companies of cavalry, Huger’s -two twenty-four-pounders, Drum’s three six-pounders, and the Duncan -spit-fires. - -The hour was ten o’clock. Who would have thought that so much time -had passed? General Scott had come upon the field. He could be seen, -congratulating General Worth. It was not until noon that the dead and -wounded had been placed in wagons for Tacubaya. And it was a tired but -triumphant column that finally trudged――many a man using his musket for -a crutch――up the hill and back to camp. - -At the start the Casa-Mata powder magazine exploded with loud burst, -according to plan. The smoke drifted into the faces of the Mexican -garrison of Chapultepec, who peered down but stuck tight. - - - - -XXI - -READY FOR ACTION AGAIN - - -This afternoon the camp of the First Division and Cadwalader Brigade -was proud but saddened: proud, when the men learned that with their -thirty-one hundred they had defeated fourteen thousand concealed within -ditches and behind walls or massed for support, with General Santa Anna -himself looking on; saddened, when they learned what the victory had -cost. - -“The bloodiest fight, ag’in fortifications, in American hist’ry,” old -Sergeant Mulligan pronounced. - -General Worth had acted rather blue. Out of his thirty-one hundred he -had lost one hundred and sixteen killed, six hundred and fifty-seven -wounded, and eighteen missing――probably dead or wounded; total, seven -hundred and thirty-one, almost a fourth of his whole number. And the -list of officers was appalling: fifty-one of the one hundred and -seventy had fallen. - -Of the First Brigade, Lieutenant Thorn, Colonel Garland’s aide-de-camp, -was severely wounded; so were First Lieutenant and Captain Prince and -Second Lieutenant A. B. Lincoln and Assistant Surgeon Simons, Fourth -Infantry; Lieutenants Shackleford and Daniels, of the Second Artillery, -were dying, Lieutenant Armstrong had been killed outright; Captain -George Ayers and Lieutenant Ferry, of the Third Artillery, had been -killed; Captain Anderson wounded. - -In the Second Brigade brave Colonel McIntosh, who commanded, was wounded -mortally; his aide, Lieutenant Burwell, was dead. Lieutenant-Colonel -Martin Scott, leading the Fifth Infantry, had been killed. Major Waite, -commanding the Eighth Infantry, was wounded. And so on, down through the -captains and lieutenants. - -In the storming column Major Wright, commanding, and the two engineers, -Captain Mason and Lieutenant Foster, had been wounded. One volley from -the Mexican breastworks had felled eleven out of the fourteen officers! - -The Eleventh Infantry had lost its commander also――Lieutenant-Colonel -Graham――killed. Major Savage, of the Fourteenth, and Major Talcott, of -the Voltigeurs, had been wounded. Four officers of the Sumner squadrons -had been struck down. - -Lieutenant Grant had escaped again; but Lieutenant Frederick Dent, of -the Fifth Infantry, whose sister was said to be Lieutenant Grant’s -sweetheart, had been wounded, and the lieutenant was much concerned. - -Jerry, too, was on tenterhooks until he found out that Hannibal Moss, -drummer boy, was not among the casualties. He and Hannibal met while -looking for one another. A number of comrades were looking for one -another this evening. They, too, shook hands thankfully, and sank for a -talk. - -“Well,” said Hannibal, “the First Division did it again, but it was -awful. Did you fellows have a hard time?” - -“Did we! Not a one of us expected to get away alive. Expect you other -fellows had it worse, though.” - -“The poor old Eighth Regiment Foot,” Hannibal murmured soberly. “That -hurt General Worth, I guess, to see us cut up so. We’ve lost ten out -of twenty officers. The storming column didn’t hear a sound from those -breastworks――didn’t see a sign of life, hardly, beyond the cactus. It -was the same with the Second Brigade at the Casa-Mata. Then when we -were right at the trenches, the Mexicans opened on us, just mowed us -down. Eleven officers of the fourteen! Think of that! I got two bullets -through my uniform and a handful through my drum. See those holes? Talk -about ‘brushing away the enemy!’ My eye! Old Fuss and Feathers was -fooled for once. We didn’t gain much.” - -“We showed what we could do again.” - -“You can’t show those Mexicans anything. Listen to that music?” For the -bells of the City of Mexico were ringing madly. “The bells weren’t in -the mill at all. Now they’re being rung for victory, because we didn’t -take Chapultepec. The Mexicans think we stopped short, and they’re -celebrating.” Hannibal shook his grimy fist at the city. “You wait till -we get breath,” he warned. - -“Suppose we’ll take Chapultepec next.” - -“I dunno.” And Hannibal wagged his head. “This division ought to be -given a rest. We’re reduced almost to fourteen hundred. Since we -started in at San Antonio we’ve lost eleven hundred men, some sick, but -mainly killed and wounded. The whole army’s lost only nineteen hundred. -I guess the First has done its share of fighting.” - -“That leaves General Scott with about eight thousand.” - -“Nearer seven thousand in the field. And Santa Anna has twenty-five -thousand still, I’ll bet a cooky.” - -“We’ve licked that number before. Odds don’t make any difference to -Scott men.” - -“Not much they don’t,” Hannibal agreed. “One more of these little -‘brushes’ and we’ll be in the Halls of Montezuma.” - -All the able-bodied troops were paraded at nine o’clock the next -morning, September 9, to witness burial. A long trench had been dug -just outside the village of Tacubaya. The wagons, covered with United -States flags and bearing the bodies of the killed in the battle of the -eighth, were escorted by funeral squads from each of the regiments. The -fifes and drums and a band, playing the funeral march, accompanied; the -troops followed with muskets at a support. The tattered battle flags -had been draped with crape. The cannon fired minute guns in solemn -fashion. - -General Scott and staff, and all the general and field officers, stood -with heads bared; the troops, in a half square, presented arms, while -the Episcopal church burial service was read by Chaplain “Holy Joe” -Morrison. Then the sappers and miners filled in the trench. - -It was a bright day. The high parapets of Chapultepec, to the north, -were thronged with Mexican soldiers looking down upon the ceremony. - -“B’gorry, you’d better be attindin’ your own funerals,” old Sergeant -Mulligan growled at them, when the parade had been dismissed. - -Following the battle of Molino del Rey, General Scott seemed to be in -no hurry to take Chapultepec. Rather, he acted as though he might -side-step Chapultepec. The First Division and the Cadwalader brigade -rested at Tacubaya. The other Third Division brigade――that of General -Pierce, who was still in the hospital with his crippled knee――under -General Pillow himself had been moved about two miles east, where with -the Riley brigade of the Twiggs Second Division it was covering the -city’s southern gates. - -The engineers of Captain Lee were down there, also reconnoitring. - -“Dar’s gwine to be anodder big battle,” Pompey kept insisting. “Gin’ral -Scott, he got somepin’ up his sleeve.” - -Before daylight of September 12, Jerry, in the camp of the First -Brigade, was half-awakened by the tread of marching feet in the dusky -outskirts of Tacubaya. At reveille they all might see that there were -two camps between Tacubaya and the city. The Pillow camp had been -transferred nearer and was established down toward the King’s Mill in -front of the town; while a second bivouac appeared not far on the east -or right of it under Chapultepec. - -The General Quitman Fourth Division had arrived at last from San -Augustine: Brigadier-General Shields’ New Yorkers and South Carolinans, -and Lieutenant-Colonel Watson’s Marines and Second Pennsylvanians! Now -the only troops left in the rear were General Persifor Smith’s brigade -of the Second Division, being the First Artillery, the Third Infantry, -and the dismounted Rifles. But Taylor’s light battery of the First had -come up, it was said, and so had General Twiggs. - -There was another suspicious sight. During the night batteries had -been emplaced down in front of Tacubaya and facing Chapultepec. They -seemed to be four sections, in pairs. One pair, about to open up, was -located on the right of the hill slope, near the Quitman division and -the road leading from Tacubaya to the eastern foot of Chapultepec. The -other pair, not yet quite ready, was located near the King’s Mill and -the Pillow brigade. The engineers and the artillerymen had worked all -night planting the batteries. - -It was Sunday morning, but―― - -“Boom! Boom-m-m!” The heavy reports jarred the breakfast cups and -platters, and rolled back from the castle and the city walls and the -mountains. Everybody sprang up to see the shots land. - -“Boom! Boom! Boom-m-m!” They were two eighteen-pounders and an -eight-inch howitzer of Captain Huger’s ordnance――a twenty-four-pounder. -Dust from the pulverized stone and mortar floated above the castle -of Chapultepec――dirt and rock spurted from the breastworks of the -hillside――the Mexican soldiers were ducking and scampering. The men -cheered. - -“Now let ’em tend to their own funerals, and we’ll play ’em Yankee -Doodle.” - -The other battery joined. The bombardment of Chapultepec continued -steadily. The Riley brigade of General Twiggs remained in the east -upon the first main road from the south there, which entered the gate -in the southwest corner of the city wall――the Belen gate. Old Davy’s -two batteries, Taylor’s, and Steptoe’s Third Artillery detached from -the Fourth Division, were peppering the gate and also firing upon -the Mexican batteries protecting the Contreras and Churubusco roads, -still eastward. The ringing of musketry faintly chimed in with the loud -booming of the cannon. - -And this was Sunday! - -Just what General Scott had “up his sleeve” nobody among the rank and -file knew. The officers refused to talk. Matters looked as though -Chapultepec was to be shaken first, and when it had been well battered, -then of course there would be an assault. But where? Perhaps upon the -southern gates, in defiance of the weakened Chapultepec. - -From the hill of Tacubaya the bombardment was pretty to witness. The -American guns poured in their shot and shell with perfect aim, so that -after every discharge the stones and dust and dirt were lifted in -showers. From half a mile the citadel replied lustily, at first with -ten pieces, but the firing was wild. Gradually the guns were being -silenced; the garrison was drifting out for safety, and a large body of -reinforcements from the city had halted part way to the hill, waiting -for a chance to enter. - -The First Division men off duty began to sift down nearer to the -batteries to get, as Corporal Finerty remarked, “a smell o’ powder.” -Jerry, Fifer O’Toole and Hannibal caught up with the corporal on the -Tacubaya road. They four stood behind battery Number 1, which was the -two eighteen-pounders and the twenty-four-pounder howitzer, commanded -by Captain Drum, of the Fourth Artillery. - -A group of the Palmettos was here. It was good to see the Mohawks -again. Palmettos, New Yorkers, and Keystoners――they had a fighting -reputation. - -“Howdy?” the South Carolinans greeted easily. They were a set of men -who usually said little. - -“Same to you,” Corporal Finerty answered. “An’ faith, you’ve been a -long time comin’. For why do yez trail through by night, wakin’ up a -camp that’s tired wid hard fightin’?” - -“Well, pardner, you talk like you want to hawg all the fun,” they -replied. “To-morrow we’ll see who’s first up that hill――the Volunteers -or you Regulars. Even start, my bucko.” - -“If you know annything, out wid it,” Corporal Finerty demanded. “Do we -storm Chapultepec, you say?” - -“Would we make a forced march by night for less, Mister Regular?” - -“Sure, now, what’s the use o’ foolin’ wid Chapultepec?” retorted the -corporal. “Let the ar-r-tillery tind to that, an’ wait a bit an’ we’ll -open thim southern gates for yez, so yez can come in at ’ase.” - -“Never you mind those south gates. It’s Chapultepec or nothing, for the -army’s going in by the west. The engineers decided that long ago. We -heard the talk at the battery before you fellows were up. Those roads -from the south are no good, Mister. Every one leads through marshes -and is flanked by ditches and cut by batteries and other ditches, and -there’s a thundering big canal running ’round the city walls. And the -marshes and the ditches and the canal are full o’ water. So ’tis this -way, Mister: we-all and the Pillow men scouted about yesterday, backing -up Twiggs, for a showing ag’in the south. But we were ordered to -trapse hyar in front o’ Chapultepec by night, leaving only Old Davy and -his Riley brigade for a feint. And to-morrow we-all are going to see -the elephant on top o’ yonder hill.” - -“B’gorry, you could fetch no better news, lads,” spoke the corporal. -“There be fourteen hundred o’ the First Division lift, to turn their -backs on the rist o’ the army an’ their faces on the enemy.” - -“Nary, corporal,” they answered. “The Palmettos have something to say -to that. It’s been powerful slow, pardner, sitting in the south whilst -you fellows in the north have been burning powder. The Fourth Division -will be first up that hill or bust.” - -An aide from Captain Huger, who directed the general bombardment, rode -along the line of batteries waving the spectators back. - -“You can’t stay here, men. By orders of Captain Huger the field must be -cleared. You’re furnishing the enemy with too large a mark.” - -So they all had to leave. - -The bombardment, increased by the batteries on the mill side, continued -all day and closed only with darkness. The citadel of Chapultepec -appeared to have been pretty well “shaken.” - -“’Tis cruel hard on thim young cadets,” said old Sergeant Mulligan at -supper mess. “I hear tell that some of ’em are mere lads scarce able to -showlder a musket. Now I wonder if they aren’t bein’ sint down to the -city to their mothers, where they belong. I’m hopin’ so. We don’t want -to be after killin’ boys.” - -Lieutenant Grant passed along the line of company fires. - -“Parade the men for inspection at eight o’clock, sergeant,” he -instructed, “in light marching order, with cartridge boxes filled and -two days’ rations.” - -“For the love o’ Hiven, left’nant,” the sergeant pleaded at salute, -“tell me: Do we be takin’ Chapultepec?” - -“The First Division has orders to support the Pillow assaulting column -on the west. The Quitman division, supported by the General Smith -brigade of the Second, will assault on the south.” - -“Support, ye say, left’nant? But we get into it, don’t we, sorr? They -won’t l’ave out the ould First Division?” - -“We haven’t been left out of anything lately, as I notice,” Lieutenant -Grant grimly replied. - -The sergeant reseated himself. - -“To-morrow, lads,” he said. “We’ve wan or two good fights raymainin’ in -our packs, I guiss. Enough to shame those daysarters wid, I’m thinkin’. -You’ve heard they’ve been put through――a part o’ thim――already?” - -“When?” - -“Two days since, back at San Angel in the Second Division camp. Sixteen -of ’em hanged, an’ nine dishonorably dismissed by order o’ Gin’ral -Scott, wid a big ‘D’ branded on their cheeks. The rist’ll be attinded -to soon, now. But sure, boys, I’d rather be amongst those who be hanged -than amongst the traitorous livin’, condemned to hear the sound o’ -the guns o’ Chapultepec firin’ on brave men bearin’ the flag o’ my -country.” - - - - -XXII - -STORMING CHAPULTEPEC - - -The First Division spent the night at the King’s Mill. The Cadwalader -brigade joined its comrade brigade of the Third Division, and General -Pillow moved down to the mill also, in readiness for the assault by the -west slope of Chapultepec rock. - -Before the First Division companies had been dismissed for the night, -by orders of General Worth two hundred and fifty men and ten officers -had been told off as a storming party to serve with the Third Division -in attacking Chapultepec. Captain McKenzie, of the Second Artillery, -was to be the commander. - -Old Sergeant Mulligan figured among the happy ones accepted. - -“Hooray! Thirty years I’ve worn the uniform, an’ to-morrow’ll be the -best day o’ my life. Ah, boys! I’d climb that hill by meself wid only a -shilaly, rather’n stay below.” - -“You have the luck of the mess, sergeant,” they admitted. “Now, -couldn’t you sneak a few of us along with you?” - -“Faith, mebbe there’ll be work for you the same. Not into the city we -are yet. But I’ll have a grand view of it from atop the big buildin’ -high on yon rock.” - -Except for the two hundred and sixty as storming column, the First -Division was to remain below in reserve. That was a disappointment. -Jerry heard himself growling about it with the others. Hannibal -had not got in on the attack either――but Hannibal had been with the -storming column of September 8, when the mill and Casa-Mata had -yielded, and he ought to be willing to give place to somebody else. -Captain Gore, and Lieutenant Smith, and Lieutenant Grant had missed out -also. The Fourth Regiment had supplied Lieutenants Rogers and Maloney; -and Company B had supplied Sergeant Mulligan, the “top” sergeant of the -whole division. - -Jerry cogitated. The column had been made up――was under orders to -report to General Pillow before the engagement in the morning. There -seemed no hope for the rest of them. - -The night was rather noisy, with considerable skirmishing by outposts, -and a constant movement upon the hill, as though the enemy was getting -ready, too, for the morrow. - -In the pink of the morning the bombardment by the heavy batteries -reopened. General Twiggs’ guns, on the roads from the south to the city -gates, likewise went into action. The Mexicans were trying to reinforce -Chapultepec again, and they had occupied a long trench behind the wall -at the foot of the cypress grove just east of the mill. - -The two heavy batteries here, one in the mill and one south of it, -were firing away upon Chapultepec, but General Pillow made other -preparations. He stationed two pieces from Magruder’s First Artillery -battery, under Second Lieutenant Thomas J. Jackson, to watch the same -cavalry column that had threatened in the northwest at the battle of -September 8 and now seemed inclined to come in[2]. And he directed -that two of Lieutenant Reno’s mountain howitzers (of the Callender -battery which had won fame at Contreras) be placed to shell the Mexican -long trench. - - [2] Second Lieutenant Thomas J. Jackson became the celebrated - “Stonewall” Jackson, Confederate general in the Civil War. - -The storming column of the First Division stood formed, carrying -scaling ladders, fascines or bunches of fagots for filling ditches, -pickaxes and crowbars. The Voltigeurs and the Ninth and Fifteenth -Infantry under General Cadwalader were to support the storming column. -The Eleventh and the Fourteenth were to support Lieutenant Jackson’s -battery section and head off the cavalry gathered in the northwest. The -other regiment of the Third Division, the Twelfth Infantry, and the -Third Dragoons had been left to guard Tacubaya and one of the supply -bases south. - -Soon after breakfast another American column appeared, marching in -for the south side of Chapultepec. It was the General Persifor Smith -brigade of General Twiggs’ Second Division: the First Artillery, the -Third Infantry, and the Mounted Rifles afoot. The Quitman Fourth -Division of Volunteers and Marines and the Smith brigade were to -assault the rock of Chapultepec from the south and the southeast, while -the Pillow men assaulted it from the west. The Colonel Riley brigade of -the Second Division――the Fourth Artillery, the Second Infantry and the -Seventh Infantry, with Taylor’s First Artillery battery and Steptoe’s -battery of the Fourth Artillery――were to hammer the south gates as a -blind. - -The army for action numbered about seven thousand. The Mexicans were -supposed to be defending Chapultepec with seven batteries and seven -breastworks, manned by two thousand to six thousand troops. And Santa -Anna had fifteen or twenty thousand troops in reserve. - -The wait proved very long. The heavy batteries thundered, sprinkling -the castle of Chapultepec and the entrenchments with solid shot and -shell. The Lieutenant Reno howitzers paid especial attention to the -wall at the foot of the hill and the ditch behind it. The roof-tops of -Tacubaya and of all the buildings extending along the Tacubaya road to -Chapultepec were black with spectators; the walls and roofs of the City -of Mexico were crowded like the seats of an amphitheater. - -The sun was high when, at a quarter to eight o’clock on this morning of -September 13, two aides galloped out from General Scott’s headquarters -in Tacubaya. Down they came, the one straight for the Quitman column, -the other for the mill. They paused an instant to say something to the -heavy batteries, and continued at full speed. - -“General Pillow! The commander-in-chief’s compliments, and he directs -that when the batteries cease firing, in a few minutes, you will at -once proceed with your column to the attack.” - -General Pillow faced his troops. - -“Attention! We are about to storm the hill, my lads. We shall take it -with the bayonet in thirty minutes, remember.” - -“Huzzah!” - -Suddenly every battery was quiet. The silence fell like a blanket. - -“Voltigeurs, forward! Run!” - -In two detachments, led by Colonel Andrews and Lieutenant-Colonel -Joseph E. Johnston, the eight companies of Voltigeurs or Light Riflemen -sprang out, rifles at a trail. - -“Ready, Captain McKenzie. Ready, General Cadwalader.” - -Lieutenant-Colonel Johnston’s detachment had charged on the right for a -break made by the howitzers in the wall. The Colonel Andrews detachment -charged straight ahead. So quick they all were that they had received -only one volley from the ditch at the edge of the cypresses before the -Johnston men were through the break and inside the defenses, and the -Andrews men were scrambling over the wall itself. The ditch had been -enfiladed in a twinkling; the Mexican infantry dived out and scampered -into the trees. - -The howitzers changed fire to the trees; one gun limbered up to advance -by rushes―― - -“Stormers and infantry, forward! Double time!” - -General Pillow dashed on with them upon his horse. The storming column, -bearing their fascines or fagot bundles and ladders――two men to a -ladder――passed close to the Fourth Infantry. Without a word Jerry -darted from place (he simply could stand still no longer) and beating -his drum ran to the head of the platoons. - -He thought that he heard shouts――angry shouts; but he did not care. His -heart was thumping and the heavy batteries had opened again, deluging -Chapultepec; so he may _not_ have heard. - -Captain McKenzie espied him. - -“What’s this? What are you doing here?” - -“You’ll need a drummer, sir.” - -“Who sent you in?” - -“Nobody, sir.” - -“Then go back immediately. Fall out!” - -Jerry stepped aside; the column hurried by. He heard another voice. It -was that of Sergeant Mulligan. - -“Sure,” said the sergeant, with a wink, “we’ve no time to waste -argufyin’. Wance in the trees, an’ nobody’ll see ye.” - -Captain McKenzie was before and busy; probably had forgotten all about -the matter. The other officers also had eyes and ears mainly for the -front. The Cadwalader regiments were close behind. In the scramble over -the wall there was a mixup. Jerry stuck. Worming on again he made for -the storming column once more. - -Rifles and muskets were cracking ahead. The Voltigeurs, searching -the trees, yelled and fired; the enemy replied. The storming column, -outstripped in the race, pressed faster. Assuredly in this hubbub no -one would bother about a drummer boy. - -General Pillow on his horse pushed to the fore. The Mexican skirmishers -and the infantry from the ditch could be glimpsed, scurrying out of -the timber for shelter higher up. The howitzers were coming――they tore -through, horses tugging, cannoneers shoving, and from above the Mexican -guns were throwing grape and shell down the hill into the wood. The -boughs of the trees cracked and slithered; the twigs flew. - -The storming column, laden with the ladders and fascines and tools, did -not move as rapidly as the light riflemen. Jerry, excited to his finger -tips, scarcely knew what he was doing, but he wished to get out of that -awful mess of falling trees and blinding smoke. Soon he found himself -up with the Voltigeurs, as they emerged into the rock-strewn open at -the farther edge of the wood. - -Now there was a redoubt or system of fortified entrenchments halfway -on to the castle. That it was which was pouring out the canister and -shell to sweep the slope below it. General Pillow’s horse reared and -turned, while the general tried to control it and shout his orders. -The Voltigeurs, leaping from boulder to boulder, taking what shelter -they could get, left a wake of dead and disabled. This fire from above -was fearful――a constant stream of lead and iron. Was the attack to be -stopped? Where were the stormers and the two regiments of infantry? -Toiling up as fast as they could. - -General Pillow toppled free from his horse, which bolted. Jerry reached -him where he had half set up bleeding from a grape shot through his -chest, and supported by an aide. - -“The reserve, quick!” he gasped. “Where’s Worth’s aide? Tell him to -have Worth bring up his whole division and make great haste or he’ll be -too late.” - -The group scattered. Jerry, legging recklessly, as luck would have it -met Lieutenant Wood, General Worth’s aide, galloping in. - -“Lieutenant Wood! Here, sir. General Pillow asks help. The whole -division, sir. Quick!” - -“Did he say so?” demanded Lieutenant Wood, reining short. - -“Yes, sir. He’s wounded.” - -“Who are you?” - -“Jerry Cameron, sir; drummer, Company B, Fourth Infantry.” - -Lieutenant Wood whirled his horse and sped down for the mill. Jerry -panted back for General Pillow, but the general had not waited. The -Voltigeurs were acting as if crazy. They were shouting “Vengeance! -Vengeance!” and were charging the redoubt, a squad of them carrying -General Pillow on a stretcher of rifles and a blanket. He had refused -to be taken rearward. - -The rocky slope below the redoubt was alive with the riflemen, -yelling, firing, stooping and rushing. But they slowed up――they took -to cover――they could not outface the blast of musketry and grape. What -next? Huzzah! Here was the support at last: the storming column and the -Fifteenth Infantry. With a cheer and a volley the Fifteenth charged, -bayonets leveled, straight for the redoubt, while the two howitzers, -hauled by their cannoneers, unlimbered against the north angle, and the -Voltigeurs rallied to storm from the right. - -On went Jerry behind the gallant Fifteenth. The Fifteenth piled in, the -Mexicans broke in flight to the north and the city. Jerry piled in. -A Mexican officer had stooped to touch a slow-match to the fuse of a -mine, but the musket balls hurled him aside, wounded. - -The redoubt had been seized. What now? The ranks looked small, the -castle wall was far above. The charge had advanced only half distance -to it. The storming column had dropped their ladders in their mad race -to join the fighting. Here came General Cadwalader to take command, -his horse afoam. While waiting for the ladders with which to scale the -castle walls, the men distributed themselves as best they could for -shelter from the plunging fire of the castle. They and the howitzers -replied briskly. But here came the panting, cheering Ninth, bringing -the ladders. - -The heavy batteries in the valley were still bombarding the castle. - -“The enemy’s weakening, men! Forward!” General Cadwalader shouted. He -may not have been heard; the men knew, anyway. The Voltigeurs, led on -their left by Colonel Andrews, on their right by Lieutenant-Colonel Joe -Johnston, plunged into the open, to fight up the steep slope to the -castle. - -The storming column was hot after; deploying, the Ninth and the -Fifteenth followed hard. Jerry, shouting and beating his drum -regardless of tune, ran with the rest. They were not going to wait for -the reinforcements from the First Division. Off to the south another -battle raged, where the Quitman men were busy. - -The front line worked its way clear to the outer wall of the castle. -There the Colonel Andrews Voltigeurs crouched in holes and behind rocks -and picked off the gunners and sharpshooters upon the parapets. The -detachment under Lieutenant-Colonel Joe Johnston filed rapidly to the -right for the southern face of the wall. Cheers drifted up from below. -The reinforcements were nearing. - -But the stormers and the Ninth and Fifteenth, with the ladders, arrived -first. The Voltigeurs had been halted by a wide deep ditch at the foot -of the wall. The bundles of fascines were passed forward and tossed -into the ditch by the stormers for pathways; squads of men rushed with -the ladders; fell; rushed again――Look! Lieutenant Armistead, of the -volunteer stormers from the Sixth Regiment, had planted his ladder! -Down he sank, wounded――his men swarmed up nevertheless――other ladders -were in place――some lurched aside or were hurled back――the Mexicans -upon the walls threw hand grenades, stabbed with swords and bayonets -and fired downward, but men were climbing to them hand over hand -like monkeys, paused for an instant to shoot and stab and club, then -disappeared. By tens and twenties the files mounted and leaped over, -faster and faster; and the next thing that Jerry knew he was inside, -himself. - -Huzzah! The reinforcements had joined. They were the Clarke Second -Brigade――they bore the colors of the Fifth, Sixth and Eighth Infantry. -Jerry dimly saw Hannibal in the ranks of the Eighth. There was a -company of the Quitman New Yorkers, also――and of Marines, who somehow -had got mixed in with the right of the brigade on the way up. - -The space within the walls on the west and southwest of the castle -formed a large yard. All the yard fumed with smoke from the belching -castle and from the return fire. - -The Reno howitzers had been dragged in, the captured guns of the outer -wall were being reversed. The storming squads with the ladders ran, -heads down, across the yard for the castle walls; the Voltigeurs and -the infantry regiments (the New York company and the Marines, too) -fired furiously from cover or in the open, helping the cannon drive the -castle defenders from parapets and windows. The clangor was prodigious. - -Jerry seemed to see everything at once: the struggling flags, the -waving swords of the officers, the figures, rising, falling, rising and -charging on; the red caps of the Mexican soldiery and the pompons of -the boy cadets fringing the parapets and the windows; the cannon and -the muskets smoking, and the bodies now and then sprawling in a lax -heap. - -Huzzah! Somebody was up――an officer in blue, his head bare, the flag -of the Eighth Infantry at his back. He was Second Lieutenant Joseph -Selden, of Hannibal’s company. A moment he stood, but for only a -moment. Down he fell, sweeping his party from the ladder. The wall had -been saved. Not for long, though! Huzzah! The great embroidered flag of -the castle had drooped; a grape shot had severed its staff. No――it was -hoisted again; a slender little fellow――a Mexican military cadet――had -wriggled up the staff and refastened the banner. Brave boy! The troops -cheered him. - -Now there was another, louder cheer. The parapets were being occupied -by fighting blue coats. Two flags had been planted: a Voltigeur flag -and a New York flag, upon a terrace, by two officers. The Voltigeur -officer was Captain Barnard; the New Yorker was said to be Lieutenant -Mayne Reid. The men were battling their way through, everywhere――into -the doors and windows and over the portico and the cornices. Another -officer――Major Seymour, of the Ninth――springing high, tore down the -Mexican colors from the broken staff; the Stars and Stripes rose in -their place. - -The Mexican soldiers were crying “Quarter!” or fleeing. Among them were -many of the cadets. There was another hearty cheer; the banners of New -York, South Carolina and Pennsylvania were tossing over a mass of blue -jostling through a breach in the out-walls on the south and southeast, -and charging into the yard. General Shields was here, his left arm -reddened. - -The castle of Chapultepec had been taken, but heavy firing continued -in the east. The Marines and the General Persifor Smith brigade, of -the Second Division, were being held by batteries down toward the road -on that side. The cannon of the castle were turned in that direction; -they and muskets and rifles volleyed into the backs of the enemy. Now -the Marines were fighting hand to hand with the nearest battery. The -Mexicans burst from the breastworks, went streaming for the northeast -and the city. The Marines came on. - -“Cease firing! Cease firing, men!” Officers were running around, -striking up the musket barrels with the flats of their swords. “It’s -all over. Don’t fight; cheer. Leave those poor wretches alone.” - - - - -XXIII - -FORCING THE CITY GATES - - -General Bravo, commanding the castle, had surrendered his sword. A -young New Yorker, Lieutenant Charles Brower, was conducting him to -General Quitman, who had just arrived. General Pillow was here, pale -and breathing hard and unable to stand. He had been carried right along -with the column. - -All was confusion, of shouting soldiers, waving their caps and capering -and shaking hands; of wounded, both Americans and Mexicans――the bravest -among them being the little Mexican cadets; of officers trying to rally -their companies, and so forth and so forth. Eight hundred prisoners -were assembled under guard. - -Jerry heard excited talk. The Voltigeurs of Lieutenant-Colonel Joe -Johnston claimed to have been the first to plant a flag; the New York -company, of Lieutenant Mayne Reid, disputed. The Volunteers were -singing their “Green grow the rushes, O!” The Palmettos had charged -up the hill without firing a shot; the bayonet was their weapon. News -flashed thick and fast. Colonel Ransom, of the Ninth Infantry, had been -killed. So had Major Twiggs, of the Marines――brother to Old Davy――while -leading a detachment of Volunteers in the Quitman two storming columns. -The Quitman stormers had lost both their commanding officers, for -Captain Casey, of the Second Infantry, had fallen also. - -In the Pillow storming column Lieutenant Rogers, of the Fourth -Infantry, was dying; so said Sergeant Mulligan; Lieutenant J. P. Smith, -of the Fifth Infantry, was dead; Lieutenant Armistead, of the Sixth, -who had placed the first ladder, was badly wounded. - -But here was Hannibal. - -“How’d you get on top?” he demanded. - -“Guess I ran off.” - -“And you’ll get a jolly good wigging for it. You’ll get the guard-house. -No, maybe you won’t――not after a victory. But wasn’t that a fight?” - -“I should rather say!” - -“The old Eighth is cut up again. Lieutenant Selden was first on the -castle, though. They don’t think he’ll die. Lieutenants Longstreet -and Pickett and Merchant are wounded. Longstreet was carrying the -regimental colors.” - -“Where’s my brigade?” - -“Down below. Worth had to keep somebody, didn’t he? We aren’t into the -city yet. Hurray! There’s Old Fuss and Feathers!” - -General Scott had arrived. What a scene _that_ was! The soldiers acted -more crazed than ever; they thronged about his horse as they had -thronged at Churubusco; they cheered and waved and cried. He tried to -speak――he tried to grasp their hands――he was almost dragged from the -saddle. His cheeks were wet, his eyes brimming. - -“Fellow soldiers!” he shouted. “You have this day been baptized in -blood and fire, and you have come out steel.” - -He made his way to the castle stairs, and dismounting went inside -through the portico. - -“Come on,” Hannibal bade. “Let’s go on up.” - -They followed in with the cheering men. The roof of the castle was -flat. General Scott had taken position here, and was examining the -country below with his glass. It was a stirring view to all. To the -right or east there was a broad smooth road, divided through the middle -by a many-arched aqueduct or stone conduit for water, connecting the -east foot of the hill with the city wall; to the left there was another -broad road, with aqueduct, diverging northeast for the city wall -farther in the north. This was the longer road, say a mile. And both -roads were jammed with the Mexican troops retreating from Chapultepec -in two red and blue and yellow and green currents, with the darker blue -of the American reserve swirling on, after an interval, in pursuit. - -The roads were dotted with smoke bursts of gunfire from batteries -in action. The angle between the two roads likewise was dotted with -islands of smoke, where other Mexican batteries essayed to stay the -American columns by flank fire. - -“Those are our fellows on that north road,” Hannibal asserted. “There’s -your First Brigade, I’ll bet; ’Leventh and Fourteenth of the Third -Division, too. They’re making for the San Cosme gate. Some of Quitman’s -troops are following up on that Belen gate road. Must be the Smith -brigade of the Second.” - -“I’m going down to my regiment,” Jerry exclaimed. “That’s where my -place is, with the Fourth.” - -General Scott had turned to an aide and was speaking rapidly. His great -form had swelled, his keen gray eyes shone bright with pride and hope. - -“Direct General Clarke to march his brigade at once and unite with -the other troops under General Worth. The Worth column is to push on -as fast as possible and clear the road to the San Cosme gate. Heavy -artillery will be sent to him from the siege batteries.” And to another -aide: “Direct General Cadwalader to detach his Ninth Infantry, of the -Pierce brigade, to the support of General Quitman on the Belen road. -The Fifteenth Infantry will occupy Chapultepec. With his own brigade he -will be prepared to support General Worth.” - -The two aides hastened away. Hannibal was as quick. - -“Come on,” he cried to Jerry. “We’ll all be there. You can fall in with -the Eighth.” - -“No, I’m not afraid. I’ll go back with the storming column.” - -They rushed down together into the yard. - -The recall for the Second Brigade regiments was being sounded by the -drums. The soldiers hustled. Jerry found the Captain McKenzie stormers -and joined the ranks. The captain glanced sharply at him and half -smiled. - -“You’re liable to arrest, you young rascal, for deserting your -company,” he uttered. “Report to your proper command as soon as we get -down. What’s your regiment?” - -“The Fourth Infantry, sir.” - -“Very good.” - -In a few minutes they all were descending from the hill top. The -storming column took the route of a long flight of white stone steps -leading down to the San Cosme road on the north. Several soldiers from -the First Brigade had come up to see the battlefield. Jerry recognized -Sergeant Reeves, of Company B, of the Fourth. - -“Hello, sergeant.” - -“Hello, yourself. What you doing here? Absent without leave, eh?” - -“I came with Captain McKenzie in the charge. How’d you get up?” - -“Oh, I just wanted to look around. The brigade halted below for orders; -and after a scrimmage I ran up the steps.” - -“Will we take the city, now, you think?” - -“It’s the time,” said Sergeant Reeves, who was a quiet man, enlisted -from Ohio. “You’ll see the First Division go in by the San Cosme gate -before sundown.” - -“Have you had much fighting, sergeant?” - -“Considerable with what force was left us. We managed to get along -after you quit us. One drummer more or less――what does that amount -to? I hear that a general court-martial is going to sit on you.” And -Sergeant Reeves laughed. “Well, we were ordered to turn Chapultepec by -the north and cut off the enemy in that quarter. Magruder’s battery -section got in a tight place in the advance. Lieutenant Jackson lost -all his horses and half his men by grape. The Fourteenth Infantry -supported, and Trousdale, its colonel, was shot twice. But the road’s -open to the next turn for the city.” - -The reinforcements from the hill of Chapultepec caught up with the main -column. The stormers rejoined their companies. Drum Major Brown scowled -at Jerry as he fell in with the field music of the Fourth, but had no -time to say anything, for there were orders. - -With the First Brigade leading, and the Fourth Infantry as honor -regiment at its head, the column marched by platoons on up the wide -San Cosme road, divided through the middle by the stone arches of the -aqueduct. Six companies of Second Dragoons, under Major Sumner, closed -the rear, behind Duncan’s battery. - -Mexican breastworks had been erected across the road before. They -reached from ditch to ditch. The Fourth Infantry was deployed on -right and left as skirmishers, and stealing from arch to arch the men -advanced. - -But the battery had been abandoned. In the final rush there were only a -few scattered shots from skulkers. The Fourth deployed again, Company -B first, and presently was fronted by a second battery, located where -the San Cosme road and aqueduct entered a road from the west and turned -with it straight east for the city. - -The battery parapet had a single embrasure for one gun. But at the -juncture of the two roads houses began, facing the south and then soon -extending thicker and thicker on both sides of the road clear to the -San Cosme gateway, five hundred yards. The flat roofs were protected -by sandbags and fringed with the red caps of Mexican sharp-shooters. -The battery and the fortified roofs looked like an ugly obstacle, -especially as the Fourth Regiment skirmishers were working along -swiftly and leaving the column behind. - -Captain Gore and Lieutenant Grant, of Company B, were well ahead of the -skirmishers. Bullets droned in, glancing among the arches. On the west -side of the San Cosme road, where it met the road from the west, there -stood a house in a large yard enclosed by a wall. The wall skirted both -roads. Now Lieutenant Grant had daringly darted across to the south -end of the yard, scurried along the wall to the southwest corner, and -turning it, disappeared. - -He came running back to the road; must have called for volunteers. -The skirmishers of the Fourth fired briskly at the red caps upon the -nearest roof-tops. Under cover of the firing a dozen men bolted to the -lieutenant; at a trail arms they all followed along the wall again and -turned the outside corner. A company of the Second Artillery sprang out -of a ditch there and joined them. - -In about ten minutes there was a volley from the road beyond the one -house and the battery. The Mexicans upon the roofs overlooking leaped -off and scampered for positions eastward. The battery was evacuated in -a jiffy. The Lieutenant Grant squad and the Second Artillery company -appeared in the rear of the battery; by rushes among the arches of the -aqueduct they pursued the Mexicans. - -With a yell the Fourth charged to the support. Huzzah! More roofs were -being emptied. The road east to the city gate opened. On, men! On! -Third Sergeant Bloss forged to the fore with the regimental colors. -The men tore after, Jerry and nimble little Tommy Jones footing with -the fastest. It was a go-as-you-please, for the field music and all. -Look out! Look out! Another battery――and ready for action, too. A blast -of grape whistled down the road, rattled against the arches in which -the men sought cover. Steady, men! Watch sharp. He’s up to mischief -this time. - -“Bang!” A cry arose. Bloss was flat! The grape had met him when, -bearing the colors, with the color guard he had made a dash for shelter -of a vacant house across the road. The tattered blue and gold banner of -the Fourth was in the dust. Out charged the Mexican infantry, yelling -like Indians, to capture the flag. That would be a trophy indeed. In -charged the nearest men of the Fourth to rescue it. Bullets flew, -hissing and spattering. - -Jerry thought of nothing but the flag. Somehow, there he was, clutching -at it in the hurly-burly――helped by Tommy Jones, was dragging it aside, -while bullets sang in his ears and bayonets clashed over him. And -entirely out of breath he was safely behind an arch, and delivering the -flag to Captain Gore! - -“You’ll get mention for this, sir,” the captain panted. “The regiment -would have been eternally disgraced.” He ran for the mêlée again. - -“Are you hurt, Tommy?” Jerry gasped. With a word and a slap on the -shoulder Corporal Finerty had taken the flag to carry it. - -“No,” said Tommy. “And you saved the honor of the regiment. You were -there first.” - -“You helped.” - -“Bet you’ll never be hauled on the carpet for skipping off this -morning,” said Tommy. - -And Jerry rather thought the same. Whew! If the Mexicans had got that -Fourth Infantry flag, which had been pierced with twenty-six balls at -Monterey and as many more at Churubusco and the King’s Mill! - -The regiment and the Second Artillery company had taken the -breastworks, but the drummers before were beating the recall. The -Fourth numbered only two hundred and fifty men, the Second Artillery -company only forty. The scant three hundred of them were here alone, -fronting the garita or gate of San Cosme, not more than two hundred and -fifty yards down the road. - -Between the breastworks and the garita the road was lined on both sides -with the stone, flat-roofed houses, defended by sandbag parapets and -the Mexican infantry. Another battery at the gate commenced to pepper -the road. Grape and canister whizzed by. - -“Fall back, men! Fall back! We can’t hold this now.” - -Running and dodging and pausing to fire, the Fourth and Captain Horace -Brooks’ artillery company withdrew by way of the arches and the last -houses. Laughing and puffing, they reached the head of the main column. - -General Worth had halted the column at the juncture of the road -from the south and the road from the west, beside a large cemetery -called the Campo Santo. The cemetery was the one used by the English -residents of the city for burying their dead. General Scott and his -staff had come up. He and General Worth were sitting their horses -at the head of the column and surveying the road, which from here -stretched eastward five hundred yards through the suburbs to the San -Cosme gate. - -“You will press right on, general,” Old Fuss and Feathers abruptly -said. “Carry the gateway in the shortest time possible and penetrate -as far as the Alameda, three squares from the grand plaza. General -Cadwalader is on his way and will act as reserve while holding his -brigade here in the Campo Santo. Siege guns have been ordered up for -you.” - -That was all. General Scott galloped back toward Chapultepec. The -Cadwalader Voltigeurs and the Eleventh and Fourteenth Infantry -were double-quicking in, bringing the Reno howitzers. The Eleventh -and Fourteenth proceeded to take position in the Campo Santo. The -Voltigeurs were directed to support the howitzers and attack with -the First Division. The dragoons had been ordered to guard Tacubaya -headquarters, it was said. - -Jerry felt hungry. The sun marked mid-afternoon already. There was -very heavy gunfire in the southeast around the Belen gate. Clouds of -smoke enveloped the gate. The Quitman column had stormed――officers -with glasses were insisting that the gate had been forced and that the -Mexicans were trying to drive the Quitman column out. But the First -Division had its own work now. - -“Colonel Garland!” Lieutenant and Aide-de-Camp Pemberton, from General -Worth, was delivering orders. “By direction of the division commander -you will kindly equip a sufficient detachment of your brigade with -pickaxes and crowbars, advance your column by the right of the road to -the first occupied building, and using your sappers hew a way straight -through the line to the gate. The same methods as at Monterey, colonel. -When you reach your objective break through the roof and open fire from -above the gate. The Second Brigade will be doing likewise on your left.” - -The First Brigade, which had been hugging the aqueduct arches, cheered -the orders. The detachment of sappers was told off, and supporting -the pick-and-crow men the Fourth Infantry, followed by the Second and -Third Artillery, rushed for the first house. The skirmishers deployed, -seeking cover behind walls and sheds while they busily popped at the -Mexican red caps upon the roofs. - -The sappers hacked holes through the side of the house; by squads the -men dived in. Jerry stayed out with the rest of Company B, his eye -again glued to Lieutenant Grant. - -Through the houses, and behind walls and around corners, the First -Brigade slowly traveled on. The houses stood more and more closely, so -that the burrowers darted safely across the narrow spaces. The enemy -atop was helpless to stop them――and had no time to attend to them -anyway. Jerry soon overtook Lieutenant Grant, who had halted at one -side and was gazing before from the angle of a garden wall. - -He saw Jerry at his elbow. - -“You’re here, are you, young bodyguard?” - -“Yes, sir.” - -“That’s all right. I can use you. Supposing some of us mounted a light -gun in the belfry of that church yonder. We ought to do execution. What -do you think?” - -“Yes, sir. That would be a fine place,” Jerry agreed. - -The church was located one hundred yards toward the city wall and off -at the south side of the road. It had a flat roof and a belfry; but the -Mexican sharpshooters favored the houses that commanded the road and -had let the church alone. - -Lieutenant Grant acted at once. - -“Very well, we’ll try it if we can get the gun. You run back, sir, to -the howitzer battery, and ask for a gun and gun crew. Tell them I’ll be -responsible for the report to General Worth.” - -Jerry ran, ducking, and wondering whether he would have to cross that -fearful road up which iron and lead were streaming from the San Cosme -gate battery. He was lucky; met, first, a lieutenant of Voltigeurs―― - -“Here! Where you going, bub?” - -“I want a howitzer, sir. I’m under orders from Lieutenant Grant, of the -Fourth.” - -“You are? What’s the trouble?” - -“He’s going to put it in the belfry of that church, sir. Then we’ll be -above the roofs and the gate.” - -The lieutenant took a look. He was as smart as a whip. - -“By thunder, a good idea! I’ll get the howitzer. You wait here.” - -“And a squad to serve it, sir,” Jerry anxiously called after. - -“Oh, we’ll serve it, you bet!” - -The lieutenant returned at full speed with the gun dismantled and a -squad carrying the pieces. Lieutenant Grant’s face lighted as he saw -them hustling in to him. - -“Now for it, then! You’re Lieutenant――――?” - -“Lieutenant Fry, of the Voltigeurs.” - -“I’m Grant, of the Fourth Infantry. Shall you take command, or I, sir?” - -“You, of course, lieutenant.” - -“Follow me with the gun, men.” - -They all made a wide detour to the south to avoid bullets. The ground -was a marshy meadowland, knee-deep with ooze, and cut by the usual -ditches, some of them breast deep. But nobody stopped for these. When -they arrived at the church they were a slimy party. The rear door was -locked. Lieutenant Grant rapped with the hilt of his sword. A priest -opened, for barely a crack. - -“You speak Spanish?” the lieutenant asked of Jerry. - -“Yes, sir.” - -“Good! Tell the father that we wish to get inside.” - -“He says that he’s sorry, but it’s impossible at this hour,” Jerry -interpreted after the priest’s answer. - -“Tell him that nothing is impossible to Americans. Tell him we regret -to trouble him and we do not wish to damage property needlessly, but if -he doesn’t open the door we’ll break it down and he may find himself a -prisoner.” - -The priest opened and stood aside. He did not look especially friendly -as they trooped by him. Up into the belfry they climbed, led still -by Lieutenant Grant. The men had hard work to hoist the pieces of the -howitzer up the ladder, but they did it. They put the barrel upon the -carriage and the carriage upon the wheels, and proceeded to pass up the -powder cartridges and shells. - -When the gun had been assembled and the gun squad was prepared, the -belfry had little spare space in it. - -The gun was loaded, pointed――Lieutenant Grant himself squinted over the -barrel. He stood back. - -“Give it to ’em!” he barked. “Fire!” - -“Bang!” The lock string had been jerked. The shell flew true; exploded -in the very midst of the gateway battery. - -It created a little panic. The Mexicans seemed to think that it had -dropped from the sky. The belfry squad cheered and reloaded. - -“Bang!” - -The lieutenant occasionally changed to the roof-tops and sprinkled them -with canister. He was enjoying himself immensely. So was Lieutenant -Fry. Jerry likewise was glad that he had come. Below the belfry the -whole battlefield was outspread. The church was almost directly -south of the breastworks that had been taken and left again. The -gateway――arched over between towers, was two hundred and fifty yards at -the rear of the breastworks. It had mounted a heavy gun and a howitzer, -emplaced behind sandbags and stone abutments and scoured the road with -shell and canister and grape. The square towers and the parapets of -the wall on either side of the gate were volleying with musketry; the -roofs of the houses along the road gushed smoke. The figures of the -Mexican defenders, lying flat or crouching, or stealing from point to -point, could be plainly seen amidst smoke spume. - -Up the street there were the Voltigeurs, supporting the howitzers and -springing from arch to arch. Duncan’s battery, posted farther back but -gradually coming nearer, was responding hotly to the Mexican battery. -In the yards of the houses the skirmishers of the Fourth, and of the -Second and Third Artillery, darted hither thither, picking off the -Mexican sharpshooters before them; every now and then the burrowing -squads burst out in a new spot. - -Across the street the Clarke brigade was doing the same work. A second -howitzer had been mounted upon a high roof over there, in rivalry with -Lieutenant Grant’s howitzer. It, too, was dropping shells into the -enemy. - -And yonder, a mile and a half or two miles in the southeast at the -Belen gate, the other battle was being waged, where the General Quitman -column appeared to have gained a foothold. - -The sun was touching the western horizon. The ammunition for the -little howitzer was almost spent. But a great cheer arose from below. -They gazed quickly. Drawn by galloping horses, the gunners astride -and lashing, or sitting upon the caisson, a six-pounder from Duncan’s -battery was charging down the road for the abandoned breastworks. - -The city gate spouted flame and smoke afresh. Every Mexican musket, as -seemed, was brought to bear upon the bounding, thundering gun. Would -the gun make it――would it――would it? The two lead horses were fairly -lifted from their feet by the canister; the other two horses dragged -them, a mass of mangled flesh. The gunners astride had been hurled from -their seats; the caisson showed gaps, as the gunners sitting upon it -wilted. Down sprawled the horse of the young officer who commanded. -He staggered to his feet and ran on. An instant more and the gun was -safely within the shelter of the battery parapet――was being unlimbered -and turned muzzle to muzzle with the gateway guns. - -Of the nine artillerists, five were out of action. - -“That,” said Lieutenant Grant, breathing fast, “is Lieutenant Harry -Hunt, of the Second. I never saw a braver deed.” - -The roofs of the houses had been cleared well-nigh to the city wall. -Lieutenant Hunt’s gun opened point blank upon the gateway battery. And -listen! See! There was another great cheer――suddenly the roofs right -against the wall on either side of the gate had upheaved, a torrent of -blue caps and blue jackets spurted out like bursts of water, and broke -white with a terrific fire into the gateway battery and even over the -wall itself. - -The battery was silenced in a moment as the gunners fell or frantically -scuttled back through the arched passage. Lieutenant Hunt’s gun again -belched grape. And here came the stormers, out from among the houses -and down the road, yelling, firing, pouring through between the gate -towers. - -“The gate’s taken, and so is the city,” Lieutenant Grant rapped. “Come -on, Fry. We’d better join our commands. Disassemble the piece, men, and -report with it to Lieutenant Reno.” - -He and Lieutenant Fry and Jerry tumbled below; ran for the road. -The Fourth Infantry was well inside the gate; the men, breathless, -laughing, peering, asking what next. Save for a few shots the place was -singularly silent. General Worth arrived in haste. - -“What regiment is this?” - -“Fourth Infantry, sir.” - -“God bless the Fourth Infantry. Where’s Major Lee? Hold your position, -major; you will be supported.” - -“B’gorry, first in, an’ here we stay,” cried old Sergeant Mulligan. -“Hooray for the Fourth!” - -The enemy was rallying. His bugles pealed, his officers were shouting -and urging, a column boiled into the street before. As quick as thought -the two guns of the gateway battery had been reversed――“Clear the way, -there!”――and a shower of grape scattered the column. - -The bugles sounded again, with the Mexican signal for recall. - -The other regiments thronged in: the Second Artillery, the Sixth -Infantry, the Eighth (with Hannibal rolling his drum and cheering -lustily), the Third Artillery, the Fifth Infantry, the Voltigeurs; -all the Worth foot. Then, after the troops had been assigned to -position, Captain Huger, of the ordnance, and two heavy guns, a -twenty-four-pounder and a ten-inch mortar came on; were planted in the -gateway, General Worth overseeing. - -Save for the tolling of bells, the distant cries of frightened people, -and the muffled notes of Mexican drums and bugles, the city was quiet. -Now what? - -“Get your range by the map, captain,” spoke General Worth to Captain -Huger. “Then throw a few shell in the direction of the plaza and -capital buildings. I don’t particularly care where they land, as long -as they notify the authorities that we are here and have the city at -our mercy.” - -“Cut your fuses for sixteen hundred yards,” Captain Huger ordered. -“With shell, load!” - -“Number One, ready! Fire!” - -“Boom!” The twenty-four-pounder had spoken. “Crash!” - -“Number Two, ready! Fire!” - -“Boom-m!” And――“_Crash_!” - -That was the big mortar bomb. Darkness had gathered. The flames from -the two guns redly illuminated the gateway littered with spoil――shone -upon the bodies of the Mexican gunners who had fallen, rammers in -hands; the explosions of the shells lighted the roofs and towers in the -center of the city, almost a mile eastward. The distant cries of alarm -echoed anew. Three shells were thrown from the twenty-four-pounder, -five from the mortar. - -“That will do,” General Worth bade. - -An aide from General Scott raced in. - -“General Worth! The general commanding sends his compliments, and the -information that General Quitman is in possession of the Belen gateway. -You are directed to entrench yourself here before the San Cosme gate, -and await further orders in preparation for a final assault in the -morning, if necessary.” - -General Worth smiled. - -“My compliments to General Scott. As you see, we have entered the city -and have a clear road to the plaza. My instructions were to penetrate -as far as the Alameda; but owing to the darkness we will establish -ourselves where we are, and march on by daylight.” - -The aide delayed a moment. - -“General Quitman forced the Belen gate shortly after one o’clock, -general,” he said. “But he has been held fast ever since, unable to -advance by reason of batteries opposing him. My congratulations to you, -sir.” - -“He was simply to threaten the gate, I understood.” - -“I had the honor of bearing him those very instructions,” laughed the -aide; “with the commander-in-chief’s compliments. But before I had -delivered the message he snapped: ‘Tell General Scott I have no time to -listen to compliments,’ and on he went.” - -“Well, sir,” General Worth responded, “you will please inform -Major-General Scott that there is nothing to obstruct my command in a -forward movement to the plaza at daybreak.” - -The Colonel Riley brigade, of the Fourth Artillery, Second and Seventh -Infantry, and Taylor’s battery, from the Second Division, marched in. -This night the Fourth Infantry was quartered in a large house on the -main street from the gateway. The men reveled in the luxury of soft -beds, thick carpets, and rich food. They searched the rooms for money -but found none; and they did nothing worse than pillage a pantry of -sweet preserves. - -Major Lee and invited officers fell heirs to a supper waiting for one -of the Mexican generals. - -Jerry met Pompey wandering about, his black face smeared. - -“Am dis one ob the Halls ob Montyzumy?” Pompey asked. - -“I don’t think so, Pompey. But we’ll be there in the morning.” - -“Not dis chile. No, suh! You-all can have the rest ob dose Halls; I -gwine to stay hyar as long as dar’s any platters to lick.” - - - - -XXIV - -IN THE HALLS OF MONTEZUMA - - -At reveille it was reported that shortly after midnight the mayor and -city council had surrendered the city to General Worth. They said that -Santa Anna had withdrawn his army into the country. General Worth -forwarded the delegates to General Scott at Tacubaya, and he had just -been directed to march his troops to the Alameda. The Quitman column -was to occupy the plaza and raise the flag. - -This seemed hard, but General Quitman had been first to seize a gate, -and had lost heavily. Besides, with his Mohawks and Marines he had -guarded the rear, at San Augustine, through a long period, while other -troops were winning honors. - -The First Division, the Voltigeurs and the Riley brigade were halted -in column of companies in the green square or Alameda. Now all the way -on to the plaza, three blocks, the broad street was crowded with the -Mexican citizens, jostling along the walks and thronging the balconies. -The front of many of the buildings flew the neutral flags of England, -France, Spain, Portugal, Italy. - -At seven o’clock music was heard and cheering. The Quitman column -appeared in sight: the handsome General Quitman and bluff General -Twiggs, and staffs, with escort of cavalry, at its head; then in -serried ranks the Rifles, with the regimental flags of the First -Artillery, the Third Infantry, the New Yorkers, the Marines, and the -Ninth Infantry following at the fore of their commands. Sections of -the Drum and Steptoe batteries rumbled behind. - -The drums of the Worth regiments rolled, the men cheered gallantly. -With measured tread the Quitman column passed on, its bands playing -“Hail, Columbia!,” “Washington’s March,” and “Yankee Doodle.” Presently -there was a still louder burst of cheers, and the united strains of the -“Star Spangled Banner.” From the flag pole of the national palace the -Stars and Stripes had broken out; raised, as was afterward learned, -by Captain Roberts of the Rifles. He had been foremost in the Quitman -storming columns up Chapultepec hill. - -Lieutenant Beauregard, of the engineers, bandaged from a wound, dashed -from the plaza, evidently bearing dispatches. About eight o’clock the -clatter of hoofs sounded. The Dragoons were coming. Then―― - -“Huzzah! Huzzah! Huzzah! Huzzah for Old Fuss and Feathers!” - -General Scott, plumed and girted and gloved, in full uniform complete, -towered at the front. Led by Colonel Harney and Major Sumner, the -dragoons, their mounted band in the advance, at a carry sabers, filled -the street from curb to curb. They, too, were spick and span. - -“Hail to the Chief!” That was the tune being played. The general and -escort swept by at a rapid trot, while the bands and the field music -of the Worth column likewise played “Hail to the Chief.” The Mexican -spectators forgot themselves, and cheered and clapped. No one could -deny that the chief and his cavalry made a splendid sight. - -“Column――forward――quick time――march!” - -The Worth men might move in at last. The street was so blocked that the -end files of the companies were obliged to brush the people from the -way. In the plaza the Second Dragoons band was playing “Yankee Doodle.” -The plaza also was crowded. There seemed to be hundreds of blanketed, -dirty beggars under foot. The dragoons rode right and left, clearing -the plaza with the flats of their sabers, but careful to harm nobody. - -“Column, halt!” - -Just as General Worth was about to give orders a volley burst from the -top of a building; the balls pelted in, aimed at him and his staff; but -they passed over. Colonel Garland clapped his hand to his side, and in -Company B Lieutenant Sidney Smith sank limply. - -As if the volley had been a signal other shots sounded; paving stones -rained down. It looked like a trap. Here were five thousand Americans, -almost the whole army, in the plaza and surrounded by buildings and two -hundred thousand people. - -The orders were quick. In an instant Duncan’s battery and the Reno -howitzers galloped to the plaza corners; Steptoe’s and Drum’s and -Taylor’s guns were being unlimbered. Aides from General Scott were -spurring hither thither; skirmish squads were being told off, and -ordered to search the streets and buildings. The dragoons galloped. The -howitzers battered the building from which the first volley had issued. -Now all around the plaza there echoed the clatter of hoofs, the thud of -running feet, and the ringing reports of musket and rifle. - -A number of leading Mexican citizens apologized to General Worth and -General Scott, and offered help to put down the insurrection. The -trouble-makers were two thousand convicts who had been set free by -Santa Anna. - -The firing in the streets continued throughout the day, while the -reserves waited under arms. At night things had quieted somewhat. The -First Division bivouacked in the Alameda. After strong outposts had -been placed the men might talk again. What a two days, September 13 and -14, that had been! And this was the end of the campaign in the Halls of -Montezuma. - -The Riley men, quartered with the First, could tell the news from -the Quitman column. They had been at Chapultepec, and upon the road -to the Belen gate. The casualties were heavy. Major Loring, of the -Rifles, had lost an arm. The Drum battery had been cut to pieces -at the gate――Captain Drum and First Lieutenant Benjamin killed. -Lieutenant-Colonel Baxter, commanding the New Yorkers, was dying; -Major Gladden, commanding the Palmettos, was wounded. General Shields’ -wounded arm was in bad shape. General Pillow would recover; was in the -hospital at Chapultepec. The South Carolinans were holding the Belen -gate; the Second Pennsylvanians were garrisoning the fort inside. - -Colonel Garland, it was said, would get well; but Lieutenant Smith was -dead. - -Jerry looked at his own mess. Brave Scotty MacPheel was gone; so was -Henry Brewer――he had been shot down yesterday. Corporal Finerty bore an -honorable wound; Fifer O’Toole’s head was bandaged――a musket ball had -scraped it. - -In taking Chapultepec and the city ten officers and one hundred and -twenty rank and file had been killed; sixty-eight officers and six -hundred and thirty-five rank and file had been wounded; twenty-nine -men were missing; total, eight hundred and sixty-two, of whom almost a -tenth were officers. The loss to the army since it had marched out of -Puebla was three hundred and eighty-three officers, two thousand, three -hundred and twenty rank and file. Subtracting the garrisons and rear -guards, Old Fuss and Feathers had marched into Mexico City with less -than six thousand out of his ten thousand with which he had left Puebla -six weeks before. - -And according to estimates, in the same time the Mexicans had lost -more than seven thousand killed and wounded, thirty-seven hundred -prisoners including thirteen generals, some twenty flags, one hundred -and thirty-two pieces of artillery, and twenty thousand small arms. - -So here the “gringo” army was. - -Instead of permitting his men to pillage the city, General Scott levied -a money contribution upon it of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, -for the support of the troops. Adjutant Mackall read to the First -Division, paraded to listen, the following orders: - - HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY, - Mexico, Sept. 14, 1847. - - GENERAL ORDERS NO. 284. - - 1. Under the favor of God, the valor of this army, after many - glorious victories, has hoisted the colors of our country in - the capital of Mexico and on the palace of the Government. - - 2. But the war is not ended. The Mexican army and Government - have fled, only to watch an opportunity to return upon us in - vengeance. We must, then, be upon our guard. Companies and - regiments will be kept together and all stand on the alert. Our - safety is in military discipline. - - 3. Let there be no drunkenness, no disorders, and no - straggling. Stragglers will be in great danger of - assassination, and marauders shall be punished by court-martial. - - 4. All the rules so honorably observed by this glorious army - in Puebla must be observed here. The honor of the army and the - honor of our country call for the best behavior on the part of - all. The valiant must, to win the approbation of God and our - country, be sober, orderly, and merciful. My noble brethren in - arms will not be deaf to this hasty appeal from their general - and friend. - - 5. Major-General Quitman is appointed the civil and military - Governor of Mexico. - - By command of - - MAJOR-GENERAL SCOTT. - - H. L. SCOTT, - Act’g Ass’t Adj. Gen. - -“Well, boy,” said Hannibal, when he and Jerry got together after -dismissal, “you heard those orders. Maybe the war’s not ended for -General Scott, but it’s ended for me. I want to rest up.” - -“It’s ended for Pompey, too, all right,” Jerry added. “He’s still -crying about Lieutenant Smith. Says he’s lost his ‘offercer,’ and he -wants to go home.” - -“Yes,” Hannibal mused. “And the war’s been ended for Lieutenant Smith -and a lot of good men before him. That’s the way. War costs.” - - - END - - - - - Transcriber’s Notes: - - ――Text in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_). - - ――Except for the frontispiece, illustrations have been moved to - follow the text that they illustrate. - - ――Obvious printer’s, punctuation and spelling inaccuracies were - silently corrected. - - ――Archaic and variable spelling has been preserved. - - ――Variations in hyphenation and compound words have been preserved. - - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK INTO MEXICO WITH GENERAL -SCOTT *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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